a. Fitted; suited. [ Obs. ] Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Adapted; p. pr. & vb. n. Adapting. ] [ L. adaptare; ad + aptare to fit; cf. F. adapter. See Apt, Adept. ] To make suitable; to fit, or suit; to adjust; to alter so as to fit for a new use; -- sometimes followed by to or for. [ 1913 Webster ]

For nature, always in the right,
To your decays adapts my sight. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

Appeals adapted to his [ man's ] whole nature. Angus. [ 1913 Webster ]

Streets ill adapted for the residence of wealthy persons. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being adapted. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. The quality of being adaptable; suitableness. “General adaptability for every purpose.” Farrar. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. adaptation, LL. adaptatio. ] 1. The act or process of adapting, or fitting; or the state of being adapted or fitted; fitness. “Adaptation of the means to the end.” Erskine. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The result of adapting; an adapted form. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 having a capacity for adaptation. Opposed to maladaptive.
Syn. -- adaptive, adaptative [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Adaptive. Stubbs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being adapted; suitableness; special fitness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who adapts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Chem.) A connecting tube; an adopter. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Adaptation. Cheyne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Suited, given, or tending, to adaptation; characterized by adaptation; capable of adapting. Coleridge. -- A*dapt"ive*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. The quality of being adaptive; capacity to adapt. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Astron.) an optical system used in some telescopes since the 1980's which rapidly changes the shape of the primary reflecting mirror to adjust for distortions of light which are caused by atmospheric turbulence. By reducing the distortions caused by the atmosphere, telescopes fitted with such optics can achieve a higher resolving power than normal telescopes with static mirrors. [ PJC ]

n. 1. (Palaeontology) the evolutionary generation of multiple specialized life forms from one ancestral form, evidenced in the fossil record. The inverse of extinction. [ PJC ]

adv. In a suitable manner. [ R. ] Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Adaptedness. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Adaptive. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ L., for catching. ] A phrase used adjectively sometimes of meretricious attempts to catch or win popular favor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. anabaptismus, Gr. 'anabaptismo`s: cf. F. anabaptisme. See Anabaptize. ] The doctrine of the Anabaptists. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. anabaptista, fr. Gr. as if 'anabaptisth`s: cf. F. anabaptiste. ] A name sometimes applied to a member of any sect holding that rebaptism is necessary for those baptized in infancy. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In church history, the name Anabaptists usually designates a sect of fanatics who greatly disturbed the peace of Germany, the Netherlands, etc., in the Reformation period. In more modern times the name has been applied to those who do not regard infant baptism as real and valid baptism. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Relating or attributed to the Anabaptists, or their doctrines. Milton. Bp. Bull. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The doctrine, system, or practice, of Anabaptists. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Thus died this imaginary king; and Anabaptistry was suppressed in Munster. Pagitt. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; again + &unr_; to baptize. See Baptize. ] To rebaptize; to rechristen; also, to rename. [ R. ] Whitlock. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. 'ana` back + ptwtiko`s belonging to case. ] Having lost, or tending to lose, inflections by phonetic decay; as, anaptotic languages. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Anaptichi [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_; unfolding; 'ana` back + &unr_; to fold. ] (Paleon.) One of a pair of shelly plates found in some cephalopods, as the ammonites. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. apte, L. aptus, fr. obsolete apere to fasten, to join, to fit, akin to apisci to reach, attain: cf. Gr. &unr_; to fasten, Skr. āpta fit, fr. āp to reach attain. ] 1. Fit or fitted; suited; suitable; appropriate. [ 1913 Webster ]

They have always apt instruments. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

A river . . . apt to be forded by a lamb. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Having an habitual tendency; habitually liable or likely; -- used of things. [ 1913 Webster ]

My vines and peaches . . . were apt to have a soot or smuttiness upon their leaves and fruit. Temple. [ 1913 Webster ]

This tree, if unprotected, is apt to be stripped of the leaves by a leaf-cutting ant. Lubbock. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Inclined; disposed customarily; given; ready; -- used of persons. [ 1913 Webster ]

Apter to give than thou wit be to ask. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

That lofty pity with which prosperous folk are apt to remember their grandfathers. F. Harrison. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Ready; especially fitted or qualified (to do something); quick to learn; prompt; expert; as, a pupil apt to learn; an apt scholar. “An apt wit.” Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Live a thousand years,
I shall not find myself so apt to die. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

I find thee apt . . . Now, Hamlet, hear. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Fit; meet; suitable; qualified; inclined; disposed; liable; ready; quick; prompt. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. aptare. See Aptate. ] To fit; to suit; to adapt. [ Obs. ] “ To apt their places.” B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

That our speech be apted to edification. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ LL. aptabilis, fr. L. aptare. ] Capable of being adapted. [ Obs. ] Sherwood. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. aptatus, p. p. of aptare. See Apt. ] To make fit. [ Obs. ] Bailey [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL. aptera, fr. Gr. &unr_; without wings; 'a priv. + &unr_; wing, &unr_; to fly. ] (Zool.) Insects without wings, constituting the seventh Linnæn order of insects, an artificial group, which included Crustacea, spiders, centipeds, and even worms. These animals are now placed in several distinct classes and orders. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. (Zool.) Apterous. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Arch.) Without lateral columns; -- applied to buildings which have no series of columns along their sides, but are either prostyle or amphiprostyle, and opposed to peripteral. R. Cyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) One of the Aptera. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL. See Aptera. ] (Zool.) Naked spaces between the feathered areas of birds. See Pteryliæ. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. (Zool.) Destitute of wings; apteral; as, apterous insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) Destitute of winglike membranous expansions, as a stem or petiole; -- opposed to alate. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL. See Apteryx. ] (Zool.) An order of birds, including the genus Apteryx. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. 1 a ratite bird order: flightless ground birds having vestigial wings and long bills and small eyes: kiwis.
Syn. -- order Apterygiformes [ WordNet 1.5 ]

‖n. [ Gr. 'a priv. + pte`ryx wing. Cf. Aptera. ] (Zool.) A genus of New Zealand birds about the size of a hen, with only short rudiments of wings, armed with a claw and without a tail; the kiwi. It is allied to the gigantic extinct moas of the same country. Five species are known. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. aptitude, LL. aptitudo, fr. L. aptus. See Apt, and cf. Attitude. ] 1. A natural or acquired disposition or capacity for a particular purpose, or tendency to a particular action or effect; as, oil has an aptitude to burn. [ 1913 Webster ]

He seems to have had a peculiar aptitude for the management of irregular troops. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A general fitness or suitableness; adaptation. [ 1913 Webster ]

That sociable and helpful aptitude which God implanted between man and woman. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Readiness in learning; docility; aptness. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was a boy of remarkable aptitude. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Suitable; fit. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an apt or suitable manner; fitly; properly; pertinently; appropriately; readily. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Fitness; suitableness; appropriateness; as, the aptness of things to their end. [ 1913 Webster ]

The aptness of his quotations. J. R. Green. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Disposition of the mind; propensity; as, the aptness of men to follow example. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Quickness of apprehension; readiness in learning; docility; as, an aptness to learn is more observable in some children than in others. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Proneness; tendency; as, the aptness of iron to rust. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. aptotum, Gr. &unr_; indeclinable; 'a priv. + &unr_; fallen, declined, &unr_; to fall. ] (Gram.) A noun which has no distinction of cases; an indeclinable noun. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or characterized by, aptotes; uninflected; as, aptotic languages. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ NL., fr. Gr. 'a priv. + &unr_;, &unr_;, fold. ] (Zool.) A shelly plate found in the terminal chambers of ammonite shells. Some authors consider them to be jaws; others, opercula. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. same as baptize. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. n. A genus of North American plants with showy pealike flowers and an inflated pod.
Syn. -- genus Baptisia. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ OE. baptim, baptem, OF. baptesme, batisme, F. baptême, L. baptisma, fr. Gr. ba`ptisma, fr. bapti`zein to baptize, fr. ba`ptein to dip in water, akin to baqy`s deep, Skr. gāh to dip, bathe, v. i. ] The act of baptizing; the application of water to a person, as a sacrament or religious ceremony, by which he is initiated into the visible church of Christ. This is performed by immersion, sprinkling, or pouring. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. baptismal. ] Pertaining to baptism; as, baptismal vows. [ 1913 Webster ]

Baptismal name, the Christian name, which is given at baptism. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a baptismal manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. baptista, Gr. baptisth`s. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. One who administers baptism; -- specifically applied to John, the forerunner of Christ. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One of a denomination of Christians who deny the validity of infant baptism and of sprinkling, and maintain that baptism should be administered to believers alone, and should be by immersion. See Anabaptist. [ 1913 Webster ]

In doctrine the Baptists of this country [ the United States ] are Calvinistic, but with much freedom and moderation. Amer. Cyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Freewill Baptists, a sect of Baptists who are Arminian in doctrine, and practice open communion. --
Seventh-day Baptists, a sect of Baptists who keep the seventh day of the week, or Saturday, as the Sabbath. See Sabbatarian. The Dunkers and Campbellites are also Baptists. [ 1913 Webster ]