admission

[ad-mish-uhn]

noun

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.

admission

/ 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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of admission¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of admission¹

C15: from Latin admissiōn-, from admittere to _admit

Synonym Study

See entrance ¹.

Example Sentences

According to the Justice Department, Abbott and his wife paid a sham charity $125,000 to fake college admissions exams for his daughter.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Andrew, who has denied the allegations, reached an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre in 2022 which contained no admission of liability or apology.

Read more on BBC

They decided to slow tenure-track hiring, scale back new construction and pause admissions to nearly 20 Ph.D. programs for a year.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“These admission numbers shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa,” the notice read.

Read more on Salon

"The admissions numbers shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa," it said.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

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

When To Use

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.