Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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adj
Of behavior, showing inadequate or counterproductive mental and behavioral adaptation to a new situation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: human-sciences, psychology, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: adaptive
adj
Of anatomy, physiology, or behavior, showing inadequate or counterproductive evolutionary adaptation to an environment or its changes.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Qualifier: evolutionary theory
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: adaptive
adjective
showing faulty adaptation
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: adaptive
History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel-? Proto-Italic *malos Latin malus Latin maleder. Old French mal- English mal- 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-Indo-European *-h2tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō 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 *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Old French -ifbor. Middle English -yf English -ive English adaptive English maladaptive From mal- + adaptive.
Across languages
7 source translations are retained for this English entry.
