a. [irreg. f. ADAPT v. + -IVE, as if on ppl. stem; cf. adopt-ive; see -IVE.] Characterized by, or given to adaptation.
1824. Coleridge, Aids to Refl. (1848), 193. This higher species of adaptive power we call Instinct.
1854. Woodward, Mollusca, 56. Modifications relating only to peculiar habits are called adaptive.
1866. Argyll, Reign of Law, iv. (ed. 4), 185. Adaptive colouring as a means of concealment is never applied to any animal whose habits do not expose it to special danger.
1875. Emerson, Lett. & Soc. Aims, iv. 114. Ah! what a plastic he is! so shifty, so adaptive!
