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concessus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word concessus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin cēdō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin concedo
Italian concedere
Latin concessus
From the same root
Latin concessio ← concedo

Forms

concessus m (genitive concessūs); fourth declension[1] Classical writers use it almost only in the ablative concessū.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin concēdō (“to give way, grant”) + -tus.[5][3][1] That verb is a compound of con- and cēdō1 (“to go, yield”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *kesd-e/o- (“to go away, avoid”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Cicero,[7] who writes that by everyone's leave, concessu omnium, some play is allowed to youth.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

It meant leave or permission, usually with the genitive of the one who grants it: Caesar has Caesaris concessu, Cicero concessu et beneficio, by someone's leave and kindness, and concessu et munere deorum, and Tacitus the leave of the senators.[2][3] A nominative is found only in Capitolinus.[3]

In medieval Latin it was the same as concessiō.[9] Charters in Britain use it of permission, as in a grant of 957, and the Domesday Book says that no one may hold land except by the king's leave; it could also mean a document attesting permission.[10]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of something allowed by everyone's leave.[2][8][7]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar writes Caesaris concessu.[2][3][7]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus writes of the senators' leave.[3][7]
  • 957 – A charter uses it of the grantor's permission.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Permission, leave, consent, concession.[5][2][4]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A document attesting permission.[10]

Word family

  • inconcessus

Usage notes

The OLD also lists the participle concessus as an adjective, “allowed, lawful”:[5] Cicero has quaestus concessus, lawful gain, and pro concesso sumere, to take as granted.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  4. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
Cite this entry

“Concessus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/concessus. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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