The story
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰ
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰs
- Proto-Italic*eks
- Latinex
- Latinex-
- Middle Frenchex-
- Middle Englishex-
- Englishex-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂éd
- Proto-Italic*ad
- Proto-Italic*ad-
- Latinad-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ep-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ptós
- Proto-Italic*aptos
- Latinaptus
- Proto-Indo-European[Term?]
- Proto-Italic*apjō
- Latinapiō
- Latinaptō
- Latinadaptō
- Medieval Latinadaptātiō
- Frenchadaptation
- Englishadaptation
- English todayexaptation
Blend of ex- + adaptation. Coined 1982 by palaeontologists Stephen Jay Gould and Elisabeth Vrba to avoid the perceived teleological baggage of the existing term preadaptation.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.