Etymologically
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accept

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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
  • 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