admit
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ədˈmɪt/
rhymes: -ɪt
Forms: form: admits
form: admitting
form: admitted
form: admitted
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: admit
form: admit
form: admitted
form: admit
form: admittest
form: admitted
form: admittedst
form: admits
form: admitteth
form: admitted
form: admit
form: admitted
form: admit
form: admitted
form: admit
form: -
form: admitting
form: admitted
Etymology: From Middle English admitten, amitten, borrowed from Old French admettre, amettre (“to admit”), from Latin admittō (“to allow entrance, inlet”, literally “to send to”), from ad- + mittere (“to send”).
Senses: examples: text: to admit a serious thought into the mind
text: to admit evidence in the trial of a cause
text: A ticket admits one into a playhouse.
text: They were admitted into his house.
text: Her eyes are homes of silent prayer,
⁠Nor other thought her mind admits
⁠But, he was dead, and there he sits,
And he that brought him back is there.
ref: 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 51:
glosses: To allow to enter; to grant entrance (to), whether into a place, into the mind, or into consideration
examples: text: to admit an attorney to practice law
text: The prisoner was admitted to bail.
glosses: To allow (someone) to enter a profession or to enjoy a privilege; to recognize as qualified for a franchise.
examples: text: the argument or fact is admitted
text: He admitted his guilt.
text: She admitted taking drugs / she admitted to taking drugs.
text: However, a Carlisle newspaper got hold of the story, and at the half-yearly meeting of the Caledonian Railway Company, held on March 17, 1863, a shareholder, Mr. Meiklem, questioned the Chairman, Lt.-Col. Salkeld, regarding a "Chase of Engines," described in the newspaper article. The Chairman admitted that the statements made in the article were perfectly true.
ref: 1950 January, David L. Smith, “A Runaway at Beattock”, in Railway Magazine, pages 54–55:
text: His sister, Patti, also admitted taking drugs, […]
ref: 2011, Kitty Kelley, Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography, →ISBN:
text: Police officers at a checkpoint in Bangkok's Huay Kwang district admitted to extorting 27,000 baht from a Taiwanese actress […]
ref: 2023 January 30, “Bangkok police admit to extorting 27,000 baht from Taiwanese actress”, in The Nation, Bangkok: The Nation Multimedia:
synonyms: own up
confess
glosses: To concede as true; to acknowledge or assent to, as an allegation which it is impossible to deny (+ to).
examples: text: The words do not admit such a construction.
text: Four bells admit twenty-four changes in ringing.
ref: 1669, William Holder, Elements of Speech:
text: There is no tree admits of transplantation so well as the Elm, for a tree of twenty years growth will admit of a remove.
ref: 1761, John Mordant, The Complete Steward:
text: I received a phone call last Wednesday telling me Carl Wittman had died. We had heard that he had been diagnosed several weeks before as having AIDS, but that his prognosis admitted a possible 18 more months.
ref: 1986 February 15, Michael Bronski, “Carl Wittman: An Activist's Life”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 31, page 7:
glosses: To be capable of; to permit. In this sense, "of" may be used after the verb, or may be omitted.
examples: text: Circumstances do not admit of this.
text: The text does not admit of this interpretation.
glosses: To give warrant or allowance, to grant opportunity or permission.
examples: text: "This shocking report proves once again that we urgently need a radical shake-up of hospital care," said Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society. "Given that people with dementia occupy a quarter of hospital beds and that many leave in worse health than when they were admitted, it is unacceptable that training in dementia care is not the norm."
ref: 2011 December 16, Denis Campbell, “Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients'”, in Guardian:
glosses: To allow to enter a hospital or similar facility for treatment.
Synonyms: sense: to allow entry to
word: inlet
sense: to allow entry to
word: let in
sense: to recognise as true
word: acknowledge
sense: to recognise as true
word: own
sense: to recognise as true
word: grant
Derived terms: admittable
admittance
admittedly
admittee
admitter
admitting
admittingly
coadmit
nonadmitted
preadmit
readmit
re-admit
unadmitted
unadmitting
Related terms: admissible
admission
mission