verb /ʌˈdɑpt/
a) To take by choice into relationship, as, child, heir, friend, citizen, etc.; especially to take voluntarily (a child of other parents) to be in the place of, or as, ones own child.
A friend of mine recently adopted a Chinese baby girl found on the streets of Beijing.
b) To take or receive as ones own what is not so naturally; to select and take or approve; as, to adopt the view or policy of another; these resolutions were adopted.
Wikipedia foundation.