Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Having a capacity for adaptation: Describes something that can adjust, change, or modify itself to suit new conditions or environments. It implies a quality of being able to become suitable or fit.

Usage and Examples

• Adjective:
  • The adaptative features of desert plants allow them to conserve water. (The features that can change to suit the desert environment help the plants save water.)
  • Human skin has an adaptative response to sunlight, producing more melanin. (The skin's ability to adjust to sunlight results in it creating more pigment.)
  • The software uses adaptative algorithms to improve its performance based on user data. (The software's algorithms can modify themselves to work better as they process information.)

Advanced Usage

• In evolutionary biology: Often used to describe traits that enhance an organism's survival and reproduction in a specific environment.
  • Natural selection favors adaptative traits that increase fitness.
• In technology and engineering: Describes systems that can automatically adjust their parameters.
  • The car's adaptative cruise control maintains a safe distance from other vehicles.

Variants and Related Words

• Adapt (verb): To make suitable or to adjust.
  • Animals must adapt to their habitat to survive.
• Adaptation (noun): The process or result of adapting.
  • The polar bear's white fur is a key adaptation for camouflage.
• Adaptable (adjective): Able to adjust to new conditions easily (often used for people or general flexibility).
  • She is an adaptable employee who learns new systems quickly.
• Adaptively (adverb): In an adaptative manner.
  • The system responds adaptively to changing network traffic.

Synonyms

• Adjustive: Capable of adjustment.
• Flexible: Able to change or be changed easily.
• Plastic: Capable of being molded or altering form (in a biological/technical context).

Notes on Meaning

• "Adaptative" vs. "Adaptive": "Adaptive" is the far more common and preferred form in modern English. "Adaptative" is a less frequent variant with the same meaning. In most academic and technical writing, "adaptive" is used.
  • Common: adaptive behavior
  • Less common: adaptative behavior

Adjective

1. having a capacity for adaptation
   • the adaptive coloring of a chameleon