Etymologically
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access

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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
  • 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