ADOPTION. - This term designates the institution whose purpose is the transfer of an individual from one kinship group to another, through the creation of a filiation called civil because it arises not from a bond of blood, but from a juridical relationship constituted by consent, under the conditions and in the forms established by law. Traces of it are found among the most ancient peoples, such as the Babylonians (Code of Hammurabi) and the Greeks. It is disputed whether the Hebrews knew and practised a.; the biblical texts usually adduced (Gen. 48, 12-20; Ex. 1, 10; Esth. 2, 7b) are not conclusive. But account must be taken of the practice of a. widespread throughout the Semitic East, of which the tablets of Nuzu have recently provided fresh evidence. From Roman law, which gave it its fundamental organization, it passed into canon law and modern civil law.
The Italian Civil Code regulates adoption in articles 291 ff.; under the Code of Canon Law (cann. 1059 and 1080), the importance of this institution is instead limited to the fact that, in certain cases, it gives rise to a matrimonial impediment (v. COGNAZIONE).