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Pertaining to adoption; made or acquired by adoption; fitted to adopt; as, an adoptive father, an child; an adoptive language. -- A*dopt"ive*ly, adv.

Pertaining to the Adriatic Sea; as, Adrian billows.

Of or pertaining to a sea so named, the northwestern part of which is known as the Gulf of Venice.

To adopt (a person who is his own master).

in avoiding danger or escaping difficulty; ready in invention or execution; -- applied to persons and to acts; as, an adroit mechanic, an adroit reply. "Adroit in the application of the telescope and quadrant." Horsley. "He was adroit in intrigue." Macaulay.

Having arrived at maturity, or to full size and strength; matured; as, an adult person or plant; an adult ape; an adult age.

Guilty of, or given to, adultery; pertaining to adultery; illicit. Dryden.

The unfaithfulness of a married person to the marriage bed; sexual intercourse by a married man with another than his wife, or voluntary sexual intercourse by a married woman with another than her husband.

A term used to denote a duty or charge laid upon goods, at a certain rate per cent upon their value, as stated in their invoice, - - in opposition to a specific sum upon a given quantity or number; as, an ad valorem duty of twenty per cent.

Superiority; mastery; -- with of or over. Lest Satan should get an advantage of us. 2 Cor. ii. 11.

The period including the four Sundays before Christmas. Advent Sunday (Eccl.), the first Sunday in the season of Advent, being always the nearest Sunday to the feast of St. Andrew (Now. 30). Shipley.

One of a religious body, embracing several branches, who look for the proximate personal coming of Christ; -- called also Second Adventists. Schaff-Herzog Encyc.

A thing or person coming from without; an immigrant. [R.] Bacon.

Risk; danger; peril. [Obs.] He was in great adventure of his life. Berners.

ventures; as, the merchant adventurers; one who seeks his fortune in new and hazardous or perilous enterprises.

ng to incur hazard; prone to embark in hazardous enterprise; rashly daring; -- applied to persons. Bold deed thou hast presumed, adventurous Eve. Milton.

Of or pertaining to an adverb; of the nature of an adverb; as, an adverbial phrase or form.

rse fates, adverse circumstances, things adverse. Happy were it for us all if we bore prosperity as well and wisely as we endure an adverse fortune. Southey. Adverse possession (Law), a possession of real property avowedly contrary to some claim of title in another person. Abbott.

Counseling to perform a specific illegal act. Wharton. Advice boat, a vessel employed to carry dispatches or to reconnoiter; a dispatch boat. -- To take advice. (a) To accept advice. (b) To consult with another or others.

dvocating or pleading; plea; advocacy. [Archaic] The holy Jesus . . . sits in heaven in a perpetual advocation for us. Jer. Taylor.