Etymologically
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concession

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Pronunciation

  • /kənˈsɛʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French concession or directly from Latin concessiō (“an allowing, conceding”).[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] The French word is recorded in Old French from about 1264,[4] and in Anglo-Norman from 1325.[9] The Latin noun is formed from concessus, the past participle of concēdō (“to give way, yield; agree”), the source of concede,[10][3][8][4] from con-, here perhaps an intensive, and cēdō (“to go, give way”), from Proto-Indo-European *ked- (“to go, yield”).[3] The OED compares Old Occitan concession, Catalan concessió, Spanish concesión, Portuguese conçessão and Italian concessione.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of granting or yielding something asked or required: 1464 according to Barnhart,[2][11] the mid-15th century in Etymonline,[3] and 1473–4 in the Rolls of Parliament in the OED.[4] Etymonline notes that it was used especially in argument.[3]

Semantic evolution

The word soon passed from the act to the thing granted: an allowance or privilege yielded, especially in partial answer to demands, from about 1567,[4] and the point yielded in an argument from the 1610s.[3] A grant of land by a government is recorded from 1536 in the OED,[4] though Barnhart and Etymonline date it to the 1650s.[2][3] In rhetoric it was the surrender of a disputed point in order to build a stronger argument (1572).[4] In Canada a concession was a division of a township granted in lots (1764), and in the 19th century the word was used of an enclave in a trading city governed by a foreign power (1835).[4] The sense of a right granted to a company to carry on a business is from 1837 in the OED and 1856 in Barnhart and Etymonline;[4][2][3] Weekley and Etymonline say it developed in French, and Weekley notes that the OED's first record of it concerns the Suez Canal.[12][3] In North America it came to mean a lease of part of a premises for a small business (1897 or 1910), hence concession stand; since 1947 the word has also meant an item sold there.[3][4] In British use a concession is a reduced price for a group such as students or pensioners (1934); since 1988 it has also meant a person entitled to one.[4][13] Concessionaire was borrowed in 1862 from French.[2]

Timeline

  • 1464 – the act of granting or yielding.[2]
  • 1473 – the act of granting or yielding (OED's first record).[4]
  • 1536 – a grant of land by a government.[4]
  • c. 1567 – an allowance or privilege granted.[4]
  • 1572 – rhetoric, the yielding of a point to strengthen an argument.[4]
  • 1764 – in Canada, a division of a township.[4]
  • 1837 – a right granted to a company to operate.[4]
  • 1910 – a lease of part of a premises for a small business (North America).[4]
  • 1934 – a reduced price for certain groups (British).[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of conceding or yielding, especially to a demand, claim or argument: The management made no concession to the strikers.[5][13][4]
  2. Something conceded, such as a point given up in an argument or a demand partly met.[13][5][4]
  3. A grant of land, property or rights by a government or other authority.[13][4]
  4. A right granted to operate a business on someone else's premises, or the business itself, such as a concession stand.[4][13]
  5. (chiefly British) A reduced price for a ticket or fare for certain groups, such as students or pensioners.[13][4]
  6. (Canada) A division of a township granted in lots.[4]

Word family

  • concessional
  • concessionary
  • nonconcession
  • concessionaire
  • concessioner
  • concession road
  • concede
  • concessive
  • cede
  • cession
  • accede

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  11. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  13. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins