accede
Americanverb (used without object)
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to give consent, approval, or adherence; agree; assent; to accede to a request; to accede to the terms of a contract.
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to attain or assume an office, title, or dignity; succeed (usually followed byto ).
to accede to the throne.
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International Law. to become a party to an agreement, treaty, or the like, by way of accession.
verb
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to assent or give one's consent; agree
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to enter upon or attain (to an office, right, etc)
the prince acceded to the throne
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international law to become a party (to an agreement between nations, etc), as by signing a treaty
Synonym Usage
See agree.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of accede
1400–50; late Middle English: to approach, adapt to < Latin accēdere to approach, assent, equivalent to ac- ac- + cēdere to go; see cede
Explanation
If you accede, it means you agree with someone or give in to his or her wish. The word is often used in a political context — the Queen acceded to the Prince's demands for more territory, a larger army, and funnier jesters. Accede can also be used for everyday situations. If you accede to your mother's request that you come home before ten, it means you'll be missing that midnight movie with your friends. Accede comes from the Latin accedere, meaning to "approach or enter upon." It differs slightly from concede, which also means consent, but a more reluctant kind. If you were to concede to your mom's 10 PM curfew rather than accede to it, you'd be doing so against your will.
Vocabulary lists containing accede
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They have so far rejected those calls, but the publication of this morning's meeting suggests they may be willing to accede to the last demand.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
"I am prepared to accede to the prosecution's request" said presiding judge Joanna Korner.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
Anthropic also refuses to accede to the Pentagon’s demand for access to the AI system’s full capabilities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026
Thursday, Amodei doubled down on his objections, saying that while the company continues to negotiate and wants to work with the Pentagon, “we cannot in good conscience accede to their request.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026
Nevertheless, he would accede to my request that he send it to the Proceedings of the National Academy.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
After major newspapers acceded to Kaczynski’s demand that they publish his 35,000-word “manifesto” in 1995, the bombings stopped.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
At the time, veterans’ attorney Roman Silberfeld raised no objection, and Carter acceded.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2025
His fellow diplomats acceded, but that says nothing about what Golani does.
From Slate ● Dec. 9, 2024
Charles acceded to the throne on the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, and his coronation took place the following May.
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2024
By combining scraps of data on several inscriptions, archaeologists have calculated that Chak Tok Ich’aak probably acceded to the throne in 360 a.d.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
In response, Samsung's management said the talks failed because "acceding to the labour union's excessive demands would risk undermining the fundamental principles of the company's management".
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
The apartheid government under President F.W. de Klerk dismantled its nuclear weapons and associated facilities in an orderly process—before acceding to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 2026
What it emphatically cannot mean is acceding to powerlessness in the face of a bunch of institutions that are working to make it seem as if their omnipotence is inevitable, or irrevocable, or constitutionally overdetermined.
From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2025
Despite not acceding to the family’s request for life sentences, they said they were happy with the outcome and that justice had been served.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2024
A few years prior, Mrs. Piatigorsky had been criticized in some quarters for not acceding to Fischer’s demands for the 1963 tournament, which had led to his not playing.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
