adapter

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Italic *aptos Latin aptus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin apiō Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tos Latin -tus ▲ Latin -ō Latin -tō Latin aptō Latin adaptōder. Middle English *adapten English adapt Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzijos Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English adapter From adapt + -er.

1. One who is capable of adapting to differing situations.

   “He was an able adapter, and could easily adjust to the differences when the company changed ownership.”

2. One who adapts a thing, e.g. a play.

   “The critic gave rave reviews to the adapter of the ancient play, who worked to give the text more relevance to the modern day.”

3. A device or application used to achieve operative compatibility between devices that otherwise are incompatible.

   “He had an adapter that let him plug his phone into the car's cigarette lighter for power.”

   “Sitting in the courtroom ..., their laptops and tablets propped before them, power cables snaking through convoluted adapters, the Twitterati have sight of witnesses at all times – the troubadours, or perhaps the tricoteuses, of the digital revolution.”

4. A device or application used to achieve operative compatibility between devices that otherwise are incompatible.

   “The wall outlet sprouted an electrical monstrosity of adapters plugged into adapters that sparked ominously.”

5. A device or application used to achieve operative compatibility between devices that otherwise are incompatible.

   “We bought adapters to use our three-prong plugs in the two-prong, unpolarized outlets of the old house.”

6. A device or application used to achieve operative compatibility between devices that otherwise are incompatible.

   “I lost my cellphone's adapter so I couldn't recharge it.”

7. A collection of low-rank matrices which, when added to a base model, produces a fine-tuned model; a LoRA.