The action or practice of legally or informally taking a person into any relationship; esp. the taking of a minor who is not one's offspring into…

Roman Law. Adoption of a person who is sui juris (sui juris, adj. 3) and hence not subject to the legal power of another; = adrogation, n.

The adoption of a child; spec. (in ancient Gaul) the adoption of a male heir by a person of high rank. Obsolete. rare.

In Maori culture: adoption of a child, esp. within an extended family.

spec. third party adoption, an adoption of a child arranged by a third party who is a private individual rather than an adoption agency.

a form of adoption in which the biological parents participate in the process of placing the child with an adoptive family and may continue to have…

a form of adoption in which the biological parents have no direct contact with the adoptive family, and the adoptive parents often know little or…