An adapter is a device that allows one thing to connect to or work with another thing that it normally couldn’t. It can also mean a person who adapts something, like a story, into a new form.
From 'adapt' + '-er', meaning 'one who adapts' or 'thing that adapts'. The tool sense grew with technology that needed connectors and converters.
An adapter is a tiny diplomat between two devices that don’t naturally get along. Whether it’s a plug, a cable, or a screenwriter, the adapter’s job is always the same: make mismatched worlds cooperate.
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