Adoptively

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. in a manner that involves taking on the care or guardianship of someone not biologically related through a legal or emotional bond
2. In a way that involves accepting a child or person into a family through legal or formal processes as a non-biological member
3. Using a legal or formal agreement to raise or take responsibility for someone who is not related by birth

Etymology: Adoptively is about as plain as English adverbs get: the adjective "adoptive" with the adverbial suffix "-ly" attached. The adjective itself came into English from Old French "-if," which descends from Latin "-īvus," a suffix meaning something like "having the nature of" or "tending to." That same Latin suffix sits behind a large family of English adjectives such as "active" and "native," so "adoptive" is one more member of that family, built on the verb "adopt." The "-ly" ending is the older and more interesting part of the story. It traces back through Old English "-līce," a form that originally carried the sense of "in the manner of" or "in the shape of," and before that to a Germanic root meaning "body" or "form," the same root that gives English "like." Over the centuries the ending wore down to the simple "-ly" that now turns almost any adjective into an adverb. "Adoptively," then, means "in the manner of an adoptive relation," with the Latinate core and the Germanic ending joined together.

Synonyms: by adoption