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ăd-opto , āvi, ātum, 1, v. a.,
I.to take to one's self by wish, choice (optando); to choose, select.
I. In gen.: “sociam te mihi adopto ad meam salutem,Plaut. Cist. 4, 2, 78: “qui manstutorem me adoptavit bonis,who has chosen me as a guardian of his property, id. Truc. 4, 4, 6: “quem sibi illa (provincia) defensorem sui juris adoptavit,Cic. Div. in Caecin. 16 fin.: eum sibi patronum, id ib. 20, 64: quem potius adoptem aut invocem, Vatin. ap. Cic. Fam. 5, 9: Frater, Pater, adde; Ut cuique est aetas, ita quemque facetus adopta (i. e. adscisce, adjunge, sc. tuo alloquio, Cruqu.), make him by thy greeting a father, brother, etc., i. e. call him, Hor. Ep. 1, 6, 55: “Etruscas Turnus adoptat opes,strives after, Ov. F. 4, 880.—Hence: adoptare se alicui, to give or attach one's self to: “qui se potentiae causā Caesaris libertis adoptāsset,Plin. 12, 1, 5, § 12.—
II. Esp. as t. t., to take one in the place of a child or grandchild, to adopt (diff. from arrogo; v. adoptio).
A. Lit., constr. with aliquem, also with ab aliquo aliquem (from the real father, a patre naturali), Plaut. Poen. prol. 74 (cf. id. ib. 4, 2, 82): “adoptat illum puerum subreptitium sibi filium,id. Men. prol. 60: “filium senatorem populum Romanum sibi velle adoptare,Cic. Dom. 14: “adoptatus patricius a plebeio,id. Att. 7, 7: “is qui hunc minorem Scipionem a Paulo adoptavit,id. Brut. 19, 77: “adoptavit eum heredemque fecit ex dodrante,Nep. Att. 5, 2: “adoptatus testamento,Suet. Tib. 6: adoptari a se Pisonem pronuntiat, Tac. H. 1, 18: “Pisonem pro contione adoptavit,Suet. Galb. 17: “quem illa adoptavit,Vulg. Exod. 2, 10.—With in and acc.: “in regnum,Sall. J. 22, 3: “in familiam nomenque,Suet. Caes. 83: “in successionem,Just. 9, 2.—
B. Fig.: “servi in bona libertatis nostrae adoptantur,are, as it were, adopted into freedom, are made participants of freedom, Flor. 3, 20; “and of ingrafting (cf. adoptivus): venerit insitio: fac ramum ramus adoptet,Ov. R. Am. 195; so Col. 10, 38. Those who were adopted commonly received the family name of the adoptive father, with the ending -anus, e. g. Aemilianus, Pomponianus, etc.—Hence Cic. says ironic. of one who appropriated to himself the name of another: “ipse se adoptat: et C. Stalenus, qui se ipse adoptaverat et de Staleno Aelium fecerat,had changed himself from a Stalenus to an Ælius, Brut. 68, 241; and Vitruv.: Zoilus qui adoptavit cognomen, ut Homeromastix vocitaretur, had himself called, 7, 8. So: “ergo aliquod gratum Musis tibi nomen adopta,Mart. 6, 31; in Pliny, very often, adoptare aliquid (also with the addition of nomine suo or in nomen), to give a thing its name: Baetis Oceanum Atlanticum, provinciam adoptans, petit, while it gives to the province the name (Baetica). Plin. 3, 1, 3, § 9: “A Zmyrna Hermus campos facit et nomini suo adoptat,id. 5, 29, 31, § 119; “so 25, 3, 7, § 22: in nomen,id. 37, 3, 12, § 50; so also Statius, Theb. 7, 259.
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hide References (19 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (19):
    • Cicero, Letters to his Friends, 5.9
    • Cicero, Letters to Atticus, 7.7
    • Old Testament, Exodus, 2.10
    • Cicero, Divinatio against Q. Caecilius, 16
    • Cicero, On his House, 14
    • Suetonius, Galba, 17
    • Suetonius, Tiberius, 6
    • Tacitus, Historiae, 1.18
    • Plautus, Cistellaria, 4.2
    • Plautus, Trinummus, 4.4
    • Sallust, Bellum Iugurthinum, 22
    • Suetonius, Divus Julius, 83
    • Cornelius Nepos, Atticus, 5.2
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 12.12
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 37.50
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 3.9
    • Martial, Epigrammata, 6.31
    • Cicero, Brutus, 19.77
    • Ovid, Fasti, 4
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