different between adapt vs bestow

English

Etymology

From Middle French adapter, from Latin adaptare (“to fit to”), from ad (“to”) + aptare (“to make fit”), from aptus (“fit”); see apt.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??dæpt/
• Rhymes: -æpt

Verb

adapt (third-person singular simple present adapts, present participle adapting, simple past and past participle adapted)

1. (transitive) To make suitable; to make to correspond; to fit or suit

   Synonym: proportion

2. (transitive) To fit by alteration; to modify or remodel for a different purpose; to adjust

3. (transitive) To make by altering or fitting something else; to produce by change of form or character

4. (intransitive) To make oneself comfortable to a new thing.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Adjective

adapt (comparative more adapt, superlative most adapt)

1. Adapted; fit; suited; suitable.
   • c. 1709, Jonathan Swift, Merlin's Prophecy

     This prediction, though somewhat obscure, is wonderfully adapt.

Translations

References

• adapt in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• APDTA

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??dap(t)/

Verb

adapt (third-person singular present adapts, present participle adaptin, past adaptit, past participle adaptit)

1. to adapt

References

• Eagle, Andy, ed. (2016) The Online Scots Dictionary, Scots Online.

English

Etymology

From Middle English bestowen, bistowen; equivalent to be- (“on, over, about”) +? stow (“to put something away”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /b??sto?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /b??st??/
• Rhymes: -??
• Hyphenation: be?stow

Verb

bestow (third-person singular simple present bestows, present participle bestowing, simple past and past participle bestowed)

1. (transitive) To lay up in store; deposit for safe keeping; to stow or place; to put something somewhere.
   • 1611, King James Bible, Luke 12:17:

     And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits.

   • 1977, J.R.R. Tolkien, Of the Rings of Power, HarperCollins, page 358:

     Of the Three Rings that the Elves had preserved unsullied no open word was ever spoken among the Wise, and few even of the Eldar knew where they were bestowed.

2. (transitive) To lodge, or find quarters for; provide with accommodation.
3. (transitive) To dispose of.
   • 1615-17, Thomas Middleton et al., The Widow, in The Ancient British drama, edited by Robert Dodsley, Sir Walter Scott, published 1810:

     Here are blank warrants of all dispositions; give me but the name and nature of your malefactor, and I'll bestow him according to his merits.
4. (transitive) To give; confer; impart gratuitously; present something to someone or something, especially as a gift or honour.

   Medals were bestowed on the winning team.

   • 1831, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

     Soft tears again bedewed my cheeks, and I even raised my humid eyes with thankfulness towards the blessed sun which bestowed such joy upon me.

   • 2008, Illiad, Userfriendly.org, “The Large Hadron Collider Game”

     CERN bestows slush fund on the LHC. Take all pennies from the CERN space.

5. (transitive) To give in marriage.
   • 1590-92, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, Act 1, Scene 1, lines 50-51:

     That is not to bestow my youngest daughter/ before I have a husband for the elder.
6. (transitive) To apply; make use of; use; employ.
   • 1887, John Marston, Arthur Henry Bullen, The Works of John Marston:

     [...] I determine to bestow Some time in learning languages abroad; [...]

7. (transitive, obsolete) To behave or deport.

Derived terms

• bestowable
• bestowage
• bestowal
• bestower
• bestowment

Translations

Anagrams

• betows, bowest