admission

American  

[ad-mish-uhn] / ædˈmɪʃ ən /

noun

• admissions
  plural

1. the act of allowing to enter; entrance granted by permission, by provision or existence of pecuniary means, or by the removal of obstacles.

   the admission of foreign aid workers into the zone of active conflict.

2. right or permission to enter.

   granting admission to the rare books room.

   Synonyms:

   access

3. the price paid for entrance, as to a theater or ball park.

4. an act or condition of being received or accepted in a position, profession, occupation, or office; appointment.

   admission to the bar.

5. confession of a charge, an error, or a crime; acknowledgment.

   His admission of the theft solved the mystery.

6. an acknowledgment of the truth of something.

7. a point or statement admitted; concession.

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admission British  

/ ədˈmɪʃən /

noun

1. permission to enter or the right, authority, etc, to enter

2. the price charged for entrance

3. acceptance for a position, office, etc

4. a confession, as of a crime, mistake, etc

5. an acknowledgment of the truth or validity of something

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Usage

What is an admission? An admission is entrance by permission or the removal of obstacles to entry, as in The admission of girls into the science program has been a long time coming. Admission is also a right or permission to enter, as in Only employees have admission to the backstage area. Admission can also be the price paid in order to enter, as at a sports or theater event. An admission can also be a confession or acknowledgement of the truth, as when you admit that you were the one who broke your mother’s favorite dish. Example: Just the first act of the play was worth the price of admission.

Synonym Usage

See entrance ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonadmission
  noun
• readmission
  noun
• admissive
  adjective
• proadmission
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• admissions
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of admission

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Anglo-French and Latin admissiōn- (stem of admissiō ), equivalent to admiss-, past participial stem of the verb admittere admit + -iōn- -ion

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Explanation

If you pay admission, you're paying a fee in order to attend something, like an event or a movie. After you pay admission to the movie theater, you head straight to the popcorn stand. The noun admission stems from the Latin word admissionem, meaning "a letting in." It often refers to a fee charged for entry, but it can also describe the process of being granted entry. The university's admission of the new student was welcome news — now he has access to the school's research facilities. An admission can also be a confession that something is true, such as your brother's surly admission that he was the one who popped your bike tire.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

admission admissions

In 1961, for instance, a riot erupted at the merry-go-round when police officers alleged a 17-year-old Black rider failed to pay for his admission.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

Overseeing an endowment of about $150.3 million, Ryan is prioritizing annual support for free admission and programming while raising endowment funds for staff positions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

Membership is by invitation only, with admission fees upward of $4,000.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026

“Pullbacks are the admission price for participating in longer-term market appreciation. This underscores the importance of staying aligned with the primary trend rather than short-term turbulence,” he says.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026

At this admission, her cheeks blushed pink as two fresh-bloomed roses.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

Schools that keep the preferences are listed publicly as out of compliance and must report more admissions data to the state.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

The minister said a range of factors were responsible but added the government was aiming to reduced "avoidable hospital admissions".

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

If admissions policies, faculty and curriculum don’t improve, administrators haven’t changed anything.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

"Where is the evidence she did this?" said Reddington, who also cast doubt on Clancy's own admissions that she killed her children, in what would be a major shift from her mental health defense.

From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026

Gradually, we both stopped calling the admissions office.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

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Related Words

• accession
• admittance
• assertion
• concession
• confirmation
• disclosure
• revelation
• statement
• testimony

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