concession

American  

[kuhn-sesh-uhn] / kənˈsɛʃ ən /

noun

• concessions
  plural

1. the act of conceding or yielding, as a right, a privilege, or a point or fact in an argument.

   He made no concession to caution.

2. the thing or point yielded.

   Management offered a shorter workweek as a concession.

3. something conceded by a government or a controlling authority, as a grant of land, a privilege, or a franchise.

4. a space or privilege within certain premises for a subsidiary business or service.

   the refreshment concession at a movie theater.

5. Canadian. any of the usually sixteen divisions of a township, each division being 10 sq. mi. (26 sq. km) in area and containing thirty-two 200-acre lots.

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concession British  

/ kənˈsɛʃən /

noun

1. the act of yielding or conceding, as to a demand or argument

2. something conceded

3. a reduction in the usual price of a ticket granted to a special group of customers

   a student concession

4. any grant of rights, land, or property by a government, local authority, corporation, or individual

5. the right, esp an exclusive right, to market a particular product in a given area

6. 1. the right to maintain a subsidiary business on a lessor's premises

   2. the premises so granted or the business so maintained

   3. a free rental period for such premises

7. 1. a land subdivision in a township survey

   2. another name for concession road

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonconcession
  noun
• preconcession
  noun
• subconcession
  noun
• concessible
  adjective
• concessional
  adjective
• proconcession
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• concessions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of concession

First recorded in 1605–15; 1910–15 concession for def. 4; from Latin concēssiōn- (stem of concēssiō ), equivalent to concēss(us) (past participle of concēdere ”to concede ”) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

The noun concession comes in handy in negotiations — between countries, political parties, or even parents and their kids. Want a raise in your allowance? You may have to agree to do more chores as a concession before your parents will agree. Although a concession in an argument is the act of yielding or granting something, don't get confused and think that a concession stand is called that because the workers are granting you popcorn at the baseball stadium. Concessions at a ballpark or at another venue are called that because the stadium has granted the right to sell food to a certain provider. Chew on that the next time you're munching on peanuts at a game.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

concession concessions

Kuala Lumpur Kepong said in a statement that a "majority" of the fires originated from beyond its concession area and had all been extinguished.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

That concession gets us nowhere in determining the value of their recommendations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

Unite Here Local 11, the union which represents workers including dishwashers, concession workers, bartenders and servers and SoFi Stadium’s food-service operator Legends Global, came to a tentative agreement days before the first match.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026

At issue was a reduction in the tariff on Canadian primary aluminum — a concession also expected for fabricated aluminum products.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

They'll have loads of food at the concession stand, but I don't believe in mixing meat with my movies.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

The European Commission accepted Sanofi’s concessions to end an antitrust probe into the marketing of its Efluelda flu vaccine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

The European Union’s antitrust body said it accepted Sanofi’s SAN 0.33%increase; green up pointing triangle concessions to settle a competition investigation into the French drugmaker’s marketing campaign for a flu vaccine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

According to the case file seen by AFP, their consortium used shell companies and Albanian and foreign nationals, notably Dutch and Italian, to conceal the identity of the real owners of the concessions.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

White House spokesman Rogers told me “the Venezuelan ministries that have power to grant concessions were the ones that lawfully granted these concessions” to NABEP.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

Besides, the black elite had always wrung concessions from the white power structure—slowly but surely—through back-channel meetings, arguing their case in a dignified, rational, and, above all, civil manner.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Related Words

• acknowledgment
• admission
• compromise
• deal
• grant
• permit
• privilege