access

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈæk.ses/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English acces, borrowed from Old French acces (“onslaught; onset of an illness”),^[2][3][4] from Latin accessus (“a coming to, an approach; entrance”),^[2][4] the noun use of the past participle of accēdere (“to approach”),^[2][4][5] the source of accede,^[3] from ad- (“to”) and cēdere (“to go, move”),^[2][4] from Proto-Indo-European *ked- (“to go, yield”).^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An attack of fever: about 1300^[3] or the early 14th century.^[2] The SOED gives this sense, a sudden onset of illness, as the first.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The original Latin meaning, “approach, entrance”, was revived in Middle English about 1384, in the Wycliffe Bible.^[3] “The power of getting near or into contact with” is from the late 14th century^[2] or 1382,^[7] and the state of being approachable from about 1425.^[7] An entrance or passage is from about 1600 directly from Latin^[2] or 1642.^[7] A coming to office or the throne, now accession, is from 1641.^[7] In broadcasting, airtime given to the public is access from 1972.^[7] The verb, “to gain access to”, first of data in a computer, is from 1962^[2][7] or 1953 in Merriam-Webster,^[8] and in general use from 1978.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – an attack of fever.^[3]
• 1382 – the power to approach.^[7]
• c. 1425 – accessibility.^[7]
• c. 1600 – an entrance.^[2]
• 1641 – accession to office.^[7]
• 1962 – verb, to access computer data.^[2][7]
• 1972 – access broadcasting.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A means of approaching or entering; an entrance.
2. The right or opportunity to enter, use or approach.
3. (literary) A sudden attack or outburst: an access of rage.

Verb

1. To gain access to, especially data in a computer.
2. To reach or enter.

Word family

• accessway
• access code
• access method
• access point
• access road
• access time
• public access
• random access

Related words

• accede
• accessary
• accessible
• accession
• accessory
• cede
• excess
• recess
• process

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster