ADAPTATION | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary

Meaning of adaptation in English

adaptation
noun
us
/ˌæd.əpˈteɪ.ʃən/ uk
/ˌæd.əpˈteɪ.ʃən/
(also adaption, us/əˈdæp.ʃən/ uk/əˈdæp.ʃən/)
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C1 [ U ]
the process of changing to suit different conditions:
The documentary is about corruption, crime and human adaptation to difficult circumstances.
His team's successful adaptation to life in the top-flight has come as no surprise.
[ C or U ]   biology   specialized
the process in which a living thing changes slightly over time to be able to continue to exist in a particular environment, or a change like this:
Evolution occurs as a result of adaptation to new environments.
It's these evolutionary adaptations that make aphids and other insects so destructive.
[ C ]
a movie, book, play, etc. that has been made from another movie, book, play, etc.:
Last year he starred in the movie adaptation of Bill Cronshaw's best-selling novel.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Adapting and modifying
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
(Definition of adaptation from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

adaptation | Intermediate English

adaptation
noun [ C/U ]
us
/ˌæd·əpˈteɪ·ʃən, -ˌæp-/
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something produced to adjust to different conditions or uses, or to meet different situations:
[ C ] The movie was an adaptation of a novel.
biology
a characteristic of a plant or animal that makes it able to adjust to the conditions of a particular environment
(Definition of adaptation from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of adaptation

adaptation
It's a renaissance, a period of both rebirth and adaptation.
From Fast Company
Studios have had a difficult time delivering these videogame adaptations.
From Variety
It only seems right that the long-awaited film adaptation turned out to be a bunch of glittering pulp.
From Washington Times
Why do you think music is a biological adaptation?
From The Atlantic
Perhaps in enough generations it will, but for the moment, this is surely more like a spandrel than an adaptation.
From National Geographic
A behavior can be adaptive without being an inherited biological adaptation, of course.
From Slate Magazine
Biologists don't yet understand how often natural environmental forces drive adaptation of the group.
From Wired
The researchers suggest their findings offer insights into the underlying mechanism involved in convergence and adaptation.
From Phys.Org
This would typically be lethal, so adaptation could not occur.
From NPR
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with adaptation

adaptation

These are words often used in combination with adaptation.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

adaptation mechanism
They concluded that the adaptation mechanism they examined was cor tical.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
anime adaptation
She also does the previews for the next episodes in the anime adaptation.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
behavioural adaptation
The white tip derives its function from the function of the behavioural adaptation in which it is put to work.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
See all collocations with adaptation
What is the pronunciation of adaptation?
 
What is the pronunciation of adaption?
 
C1

Translations of adaptation

in Chinese (Traditional)
適應, （電影、書、劇本等的）改編…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
适应, （电影、书、剧本等的）改编…
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in Spanish
adaptación…
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in Portuguese
adaptação…
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in more languages
in Marathi
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Tamil
in Hindi
in Gujarati
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Urdu
in Ukrainian
in Russian
in Telugu
in Arabic
in Bengali
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
जुळवून घेण्याची प्रक्रिया, रूपांतर, चित्रपट…
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適応, 改造…
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uyarlama, yeni bir duruma uydurma/uyma, uyum sağlama…
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adaptation…
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adaptació…
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aanpassing…
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சூழலுக்கு ஏற்றார் போல் மாறிக்கொள்வது, ஒரு திரைப்படம், புத்தகம்…
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अनुकूलन, तालमेल हो जाना, (किसी फिल्म…
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અનુકૂલન, આધારિત, એક ચલચિત્ર…
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tilpasning, bearbejdning…
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anpassning, adaption…
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adaptasi…
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die Anpassung…
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tilpasning, bearbeidelse…
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تصرف, مطابقت, موافقت…
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адаптація, пристосування…
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инсценировка, адаптация…
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వేరు మీరు పరిస్థితులకు అనుగుణంగా వ్యవహరించే ప్రక్రియ, అనుసరణ, రూపాంతరణం…
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تَهيئة, تَأقلُم…
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অভিযোজন, অন্য কোনো চলচ্চিত্র, বই…
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přizpůsobování, adaptace…
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adaptasi…
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การปรับตัว…
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sự điều chỉnh…
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adaptacja, przeróbka, przystosowanie…
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적응…
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adattamento…
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adapt
adapt something for something
adaptability
adaptable
adaptation
adapted
adapter
adapting
adaptive

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