accept

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əkˈsept/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English accepten (“to receive graciously, approve of, judge worthy”),^[2] borrowed from Old French accepter,^[3][4][5] or directly borrowed from Latin acceptāre (“to take or receive willingly”),^[3][6] the frequentative of accipere (“to receive”),^[3][6] from ad (“to”) and capere (“to take”),^[3][6] from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to grasp”).^[3] Barnhart prefers the Latin source and notes that the Old French verb may be a parallel borrowing.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To take something offered willingly: about 1380 in the OED, in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales,^[7][6] the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[3] The phrase accept the person of, “to show favour to”, is from about 1360.^[7]

Semantic evolution

To receive as adequate, and so to admit, agree to or believe, is from 1530,^[7] and to take formally with its obligations, as an office or a bill of exchange, from 1524.^[7] In the 16th century the verb was often followed by of (accept of).^[7] Acceptable is from about 1384, in the Wycliffe Bible,^[6] acceptance from the 16th century and acceptation from the 15th.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1360 – accept the person of.^[7]
• c. 1380 – to take something offered.^[7][6]
• c. 1384 – acceptable.^[6]
• 1524 – to accept formally.^[7]
• 1530 – to agree to, believe.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To take something offered, especially gladly.
2. To say yes to an offer or invitation; to consent to.
3. To regard as true, proper or normal; to believe.
4. To endure patiently; to resign oneself to.
5. To admit to a group or place.
6. To agree to pay a bill of exchange or draft.

Word family

• acceptingly
• acceptingness
• acceptee
• preaccept
• reaccept
• accepted
• accepter
• acceptive

Related words

• acceptable
• acceptance
• acceptancy
• acceptant
• acceptation
• acceptor
• capture
• receive
• except

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press