Yes that's not a word. Well, not yet.
Maybe it should be.

I got the idea for this post while listening to my son working on a set of words for his schoolwork. He was reading the definition for "adept" but pronouncing it clearly as "adapt". I was very amused, but still gently redirected his faulty pronunciation. This engagement spawned a short conversation about the similarity to both words and how they relate to each other, which in turn spawned my creation of the blended term "adaeptitude".

First, let's define each original term:

adept noun: a person who is skilled or proficient at something.

Adept is a person in the state of being skilled or proficient. This is a goal for many of in  fields or crafts. It is generally the intent of all, but achieved by less than all. Depending on the complexity and depth of skill of any particular field or craft, this state may be achieved by only the few. Hence, to be an adept at one's craft is a goal, something to achieve and worthy of celebrating if it is achieved.

adapt verb:  make (something) suitable for a new use or purpose; modify.

Adapt is an action indicating a process (called adaptation). One modifies something for the purpose of making it suitable for something new. To adapt is to enact change for a purpose. That purpose has a goal, which is the meeting the needs or solving the problems of the new use or purpose.

Upon entering any field or craft, the individual is a novice, new or inexperienced in that field or craft. The end goal or intent is to be an adept, skilled and proficient in that field or craft. The journey from novice to adept is one of adaptation: progressive, intentional changes of self to better meet the needs and challenges of unfolding situations. Some of these adaptations are memory, understanding, and language. Others relate to tooling, technique and process. But all of them target the same goal of transforming one's self from the novice into the adept.

There is a typically hard to describe quality that people have when it comes to this progressive novice-to-adept process in a particular field or craft. This is true when  interest in the field or craft is consistently high across all members. This is true when each member desires to become an adept in the field or craft. The quality lies between aptitude and amiability. Aptitude is the natural ability that anyone has to do something. As individuals, we are uniquely talented to do certain things and challenged to do others. This aptitude affects our ability to become an adept in any given field or craft. Amiability is the personal characteristic of being able to pleasantly traverse situations. Amiability is generally described as interpersonal friendliness, but it also relates to an individual's ability to change (adapt) according to the needs of a situation, to "roll with the punches". That they can retain a somewhat pleasant demeanor is a significant bonus in difficult situations.

The aptitude (raw talent) and amiability (ability to "roll with the punches") qualities of an individual contribute to his/her ability to efficiently go from novice to adept. I want to call this "adaeptitude", the quality of being able to adapt towards the goal of becoming an adept.

 

This post is an Aside and is to be regarded under those conditions.