adaptation

UK: /ˌædæpˈteɪʃ^ən/ US: /ˌædəpˈteɪʃən/ ,(ad′əp tā′shən)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

ad•ap•ta•tion /ˌædəpˈteɪʃən/   n. 

1. [uncountable] the act or process of adapting or the state of being adapted.
2. a change of a book, story, or other writing to a new form:
   [countable] The movie was an adaptation of a novel.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

ad•ap•ta•tion  (ad′əp tā′shən), n. 

1. the act of adapting.
2. the state of being adapted; adjustment.
3. something produced by adapting:
   an adaptation of a play for television.
4. Biology
   • any alteration in the structure or function of an organism or any of its parts that results from natural selection and by which the organism becomes better fitted to survive and multiply in its environment.
   • a form or structure modified to fit a changed environment.
   • the ability of a species to survive in a particular ecological niche, esp. because of alterations of form or behavior brought about through natural selection.
5. Physiology the decrease in response of sensory receptor organs, as those of vision, touch, temperature, olfaction, audition, and pain, to changed, constantly applied, environmental conditions.
6. Ophthalmology the regulating by the pupil of the quantity of light entering the eye.

Also, a•dap•tion  (ə dap′shən). [Sociol.] a slow, usually unconscious modification of individual and social activity in adjustment to cultural surroundings.

• Medieval Latin adaptātiōn- (stem of adaptātiō), equivalent. to Latin adaptāt(us) (past participle of adaptāre to adapt; see -ate¹) + -iōn- -ion
• 1600–10

ad′ap•ta′tion•al, adj. 
ad′ap•ta′tion•al•ly, adv. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

adaptation / ˌædəpˈteɪʃən ˌædæp-/ noun

1. the act or process of adapting or the state of being adapted; adjustment
2. something that is produced by adapting something else
3. something that is changed or modified to suit new conditions or needs
4. an inherited or acquired modification in organisms that makes them better suited to survive and reproduce in a particular environment