admit

[ad-mit]

See more synonyms for admit on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), ad·mit·ted, ad·mit·ting.

to allow to enter; grant or afford entrance to: to admit a student to college.
to give right or means of entrance to: This ticket admits two people.
to permit to exercise a certain function or privilege: admitted to the bar.

to permit; allow.
to allow or concede as valid: to admit the force of an argument.
to acknowledge; confess: He admitted his guilt.
to grant in argument; concede: The fact is admitted.
to have capacity for: This passage admits two abreast.

verb (used without object), ad·mit·ted, ad·mit·ting.

to permit entrance; give access: This door admits to the garden.
to permit the possibility of something; allow (usually followed by of): The contract admits of no other interpretation.

Origin of admit

1375–1425; < Latin admittere, equivalent to ad- ad- + mittere to send, let go; replacing late Middle English amitte, with a- a-⁵ (instead of ad-) < Middle French amettre < Latin, as above

Related formsad·mit·ta·ble, ad·mit·ti·ble, adjectivead·mit·ter, nounhalf-ad·mit·ted, adjectivehalf-ad·mit·ted·ly, adverbnon·ad·mit·ted, adjective, nounnon·ad·mit·ted·ly, adverbpre·ad·mit, verb (used with object), pre·ad·mit·ted, pre·ad·mit·ting.re·ad·mit, verb, re·ad·mit·ted, re·ad·mit·ting.un·ad·mit·ted, adjectiveun·ad·mit·ted·ly, adverbwell-ad·mit·ted, adjective

Synonyms for admit

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com

1. receive. 6. own, avow.

Synonym study

6. See acknowledge.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for admitting

grant, receive, permit, introduce, sign, concede, accept, enter, take, disclose, reveal, affirm, confirm, recognize, tell, indicate, allow, declare, approve, agree

Examples from the Web for admitting

Contemporary Examples of admitting

Klein paints a rosy picture of the charter schools, while admitting that not all outperformed traditional public schools.
Your Local School Doesn’t Have to Suck
Michael S. Roth
December 17, 2014
Last week, a British woman committed suicide after admitting she had harassed the McCanns online.
Does a Perv Know Maddie McCann’s Fate?
Barbie Latza Nadeau
October 16, 2014
Yet, while admitting that TMZ sometimes performs a valuable public service, not everyone is an unalloyed fan.
How TMZ Claims Its Celebrity Scalps, Like Ray Rice
Lloyd Grove
September 10, 2014
It starts with realizing and admitting that I might be infected.
Racism Is White America’s HIV
Gene Robinson
August 3, 2014
The first is admitting you “suffer” from same-sex attraction.
Mormon U. Forces Gays to Be Celibate
Emily Shire
May 13, 2014

Historical Examples of admitting

Experts, however, while admitting Sandy's general genius, did not go so far as this.
In the Midst of Alarms
Robert Barr
Mortimer compromised by admitting that he had probably forgotten it.
Thoroughbreds
W. A. Fraser
I have no hesitation whatever in admitting that I have mine.
Her Father's Daughter
Gene Stratton-Porter
He longed to hear Hinde admitting that he had been mistaken in John's quality.
The Foolish Lovers
St. John G. Ervine
Roden led the way into the house, admitting himself with a latch-key.
Roden's Corner
Henry Seton Merriman

British Dictionary definitions for admitting

admit

verb -mits, -mitting or -mitted (mainly tr)

(may take a clause as object) to confess or acknowledge (a crime, mistake, etc)
(may take a clause as object) to concede (the truth or validity of something)
to allow to enter; let in
(foll by to) to allow participation (in) or the right to be part (of)to admit to the profession
(when intr, foll by of) to allow (of); leave room (for)
(intr) to give accessthe door admits onto the lawn

Word Origin for admit

C14: from Latin admittere to let come or go to, from ad- to + mittere to send

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for admitting

admit

late 14c., "let in," from Latin admittere "to allow to enter, let in, let come, give access," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + mittere "let go, send" (see mission). Sense of "to concede as valid or true" is first recorded early 15c. Related: Admitted; Admitting.