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to choose or take as one’s own; make one’s own by selection or assent:
to adopt a nickname.
to take and rear (the child of other parents) as one’s own child, specifically by a formal legal act.
to take or receive into any kind of new relationship:
to adopt a person as a protégé.
to select as a basic or required textbook or series of textbooks in a course.
to vote to accept:
The House adopted the report.
to accept or act in accordance with (a plan, principle, etc.).
adopt out, to place (a child) for adoption:
The institution may keep a child or adopt it out.
Contemporary Examples

I love my adopted hometown, but let’s be honest: it’s parochial, bourgeois, and somewhat lacking in world-class amenities.
Will DC Become a World City? Megan McArdle October 1, 2012

After all, Jolie has adopted three other kids in a family that includes her three biological children.
Angelina Jolie: I’m Not Adopting Again Howard Kurtz February 10, 2011

This balanced budget rule is to be adopted in the national constitutions of euro zone members.
Niall Ferguson: Great Britain Saves Itself by Rejecting the EU Niall Ferguson December 9, 2011

“I was furious because I figured out in Europe that my real father had agreed to allow me to be adopted,” he said.
Newt Gingrich’s Bipolar Mother Kit Gingrich and His Difficult Childhood Gail Sheehy December 21, 2011

At least 70 percent of the children were adopted from overseas, including Russia, China, Ethiopia and Ukraine.
Judge: Rehoming Kids Is Trafficking Tina Traster December 29, 2014

Historical Examples

The first lawyer, you know, was a waif that was adopted by a tortoise and a fox.
Memoirs of a Midget Walter de la Mare

“Some slaves have been publicly registered as adopted children,” said Eudora.
Philothea Lydia Maria Child

Why he adopted this course it is impossible to do more than conjecture.
The Canadian Portrait Gallery Volume 3 John Charles Dent

During that ten days, and later, he adopted a systematic plan of work.
Way of the Lawless Max Brand

I saw then that he had adopted as his motto: Evil, be thou my good!
Ivory Apes and Peacocks James Huneker

adjective
having been adopted: an adopted child Compare adoptive
verb (transitive)
(law) to bring (a person) into a specific relationship, esp to take (another’s child) as one’s own child
to choose and follow (a plan, technique, etc)
to take over (an idea, etc) as if it were one’s own
to take on; assume: to adopt a title
to accept (a report, etc)
v.

c.1500, a back-formation from adoption or else from Middle French adopter or directly from Latin adoptare “take by choice, choose for oneself, select, choose” (especially a child). Originally in English also of friends, fathers, citizens, etc. Sense of “to legally take as one’s own child” and that of “to embrace, espouse” a practice, method, etc. are from c.1600. Related: Adopted; adopting.