admettre

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ad.mɛtʁ/^[1]

Forms

admettre^[1]

Etymology

It is a remaking (once in the 13th century, then from 1508) of Old French amettre, after the verb it comes from,^[2][3] borrowed from Latin admittō (“to let in; to allow”),^[4][5][6] formed with ad- and mittō (“to send, let go”), the source of mettre.^[2][3]

The popular Old French verb meant “to charge with, accuse” until the 15th century, and still does in Walloon;^[5][4] that sense is not found in Latin, and the TLFi takes it as a figurative use of “to put on (someone)”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Amettre “to impute, charge with” is in Guillaume d'Angleterre (1165);^[4] admettre in the sense “to receive someone as qualified to enter” is in the 13th-century Sermons poitevins: la poestez... de vos admettre en la gloire.^[4]

Semantic evolution

French developed the sense “to accept, receive”, also figuratively, as with excuses in Amyot.^[2][7] With a thing as subject it meant “to allow, permit” in Corneille's Le Cid (1637): Ce haut rang n'admet point un homme sans honneur.^[4][2] Admettre quelqu'un à “to allow to” dates from the 1640s,^[2][4] and the intellectual sense “to accept as true” from the mid-17th century (Pascal), recorded by Richelet in 1680.^[2][4] It is used in science, as in a problem that admits two solutions.^[2]

The participle admis meant “received into a society” in 1671 and, as a noun, a successful candidate in 1919.^[2] admission is a borrowing from Latin (1568, or 1539 according to Bloch and Wartburg), and réadmettre dates from 1829.^[2]

Timeline

• 1165 – Amettre “to impute”.^[4]
• 13th century – Admettre “to receive”.^[4]
• 1508 – Admettre in regular use.^[2]
• 1637 – “To allow”, in Corneille.^[4]
• 1644 – Admettre quelque chose à, in Rotrou.^[4]
• 1680 – “To accept as true” (Richelet).^[4]
• 1829 – Réadmettre.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To Admit, let in, accept (someone) as a member, guest or pupil: admettre quelqu'un à sa table, Les chiens ne sont pas admis, être admis à un examen, to pass.^[8][1]
2. To accept as true or valid, to acknowledge: une chose communément admise.^[8][1]
3. To allow, tolerate; of a thing, to admit of: Ce problème admet deux solutions.^[2][4]
4. Admettre quelqu'un à (and infinitive): to allow someone to.^[8][4]

Related words

• admis
• admissible
• admission
• inadmissible
• réadmettre
• mettre

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 168a
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert