accept

English

Etymology

First attested about 1380. From Middle English accepten, borrowed from Old French accepter, or directly from Latin acceptō, acceptāre (“receive”), frequentative of accipiō, formed from ad- + capiō (“to take”). Displaced native Old English onfōn.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əkˈsɛpt/, /ækˈsɛpt/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /əkˈsɛpt/, /ɪkˈsɛpt/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Hong Kong) IPA^(key): /əˈsɛp(t)/
• Homophone: except (in some dialects)
• Hyphenation: ac‧cept
• Rhymes: -ɛpt

Verb

accept (third-person singular simple present accepts, present participle accepting, simple past and past participle accepted)

1. (transitive) To receive, especially with a consent, with favour, or with approval.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 20:3:

     Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice.

   • 1714 August 25, Joseph Addison, “The Sequel of the Story of Shalum and Hilpa”, in The Spectator, number 585; republished in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq, volume 4, London: Jacob Tonson, 1721, page 112:

     The Chinese say, that a little time afterwards she accepted of a treat in one of the neighbouring hills to which Shalum had invited her.

   • 1842, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter III, in Zanoni. […], volume I, London: Saunders & Otley, […], →OCLC, book the second (Art, Love, and Wonder), page 151:

     I bid thee banish from thy heart all thought of me, but as one whom the Future cries aloud to thee to avoid. Glyndon, if thou acceptest his homage, will love thee till the tomb closes upon both.

2. (transitive) To admit to a place or a group.

   The Boy Scouts were going to accept him as a member.

3. (transitive) To regard as proper, usual, true, or to believe in.

   I accept the notion that Christ lived.

   I can't accept nothing being done about the problem and your standing idly by.

4. (transitive) To receive as adequate or satisfactory.
5. (transitive) To receive or admit to; to agree to; to assent to; to submit to.

   I accept your proposal, amendment, or excuse.

6. (transitive) To endure patiently.

   I accept my punishment.

7. (transitive) To acknowledge patiently without opposition or resistance.

   We need to accept the fact that restaurants are closed due to COVID-19 and that no amount of wishing or screaming will make them reopen any sooner.

8. (transitive, law, business) To agree to pay.
9. (transitive) To receive officially.

   to accept the report of a committee

10. (intransitive) To receive something willingly.
11. (Philippines) To do a service done by an establishment.

    We accept repairs.

    We accept bookbinding.

Conjugation

Conjugation of accept

infinitive	(to) accept
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	accept	accepted
2nd-person singular	accept, acceptest†	accepted, acceptedst†
3rd-person singular	accepts, accepteth†	accepted
plural	accept
subjunctive	accept	accepted
imperative	accept	—
participles	accepting	accepted

^† Archaic or obsolete.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “receive with approval”): reject, decline

Derived terms

• accept a bill
• accept at face value
• accepted
• acceptedly
• accepted pairing
• acceptee
• accepter
• accepting house
• acceptive
• accept person
• accept service
• preaccept
• reaccept
• superaccept
• unaccept

Related terms

• acceptability
• acceptable
• acceptableness
• acceptably
• acceptance
• acceptancy
• acceptant
• acceptation
• acceptilation
• acception
• acceptor

Translations

to receive with consent

Afar: oggolu Afrikaans: aanvaar (af) Albanian : Prano (sq) Arabic: قَبِلَ (ar) (qabila) Egyptian Arabic: قبل (ʔebel) Hijazi Arabic: قبل (gibil), وافق (wāfag) Armenian: ընդունել (hy) (əndunel) Asturian: aceptar (ast) Azerbaijani: qəbul etmək (az) Basque: onartu Belarusian: прыма́ць impf (prymácʹ), прыня́ць pf (prynjácʹ) Bulgarian: прие́мам (bg) impf (priémam), прие́ма (bg) pf (priéma) Burmese: ယူ (my) (yu), ခံ (my) (hkam), လက်ခံ (my) (lakhkam) Catalan: acceptar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 接受 (zh) (jiēshòu) Czech: přijmout (cs) pf, přijímat (cs) impf Danish: acceptere (da), modtage (da) Dutch: aanvaarden (nl), accepteren (nl) Esperanto: akcepti (eo), alpreni (eo) Finnish: hyväksyä (fi) French: accepter (fr) Galician: aceptar (gl) Georgian: მიღება (miɣeba), დათანხმება (datanxmeba) German: annehmen (de), abnehmen (de), akzeptieren (de) Gothic: 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌽𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (andniman) Greek: δέχομαι (el) (déchomai) Hebrew: קִבֵּל (he) (kibél) Hindi: स्वीकार करना (svīkār karnā), स्वीकारना (hi) (svīkārnā) Hungarian: beleegyezik (hu), elfogad (hu) Indonesian: menerima (id) Italian: accettare (it) Japanese: 受理する (ja) (じゅりする, juri suru), 受け入れる (ja) (うけいれる, ukeireru), 受ける (ja) (うける, ukeru), 受け取る (ja) (うけとる, uketoru) Khiamniungan Naga: thòlòuh Khmer: ទទួល (km) (tɔtuəl), ព្រមទទួល (prɔɔm tɔtuəl) Korean: 받아들이다 (ko) (badadeurida) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: وەرگرتن (wergirtin) Northern Kurdish: pejirandin (ku), qebûl kirin (ku) Lao: ຕົກລົງ (tok long) Latin: scīscō, accipiō (la), habeō (la), audiō (la) Macedonian: прима impf (prima), прими pf (primi) Malay: menerima (ms) Malayalam: സ്വീകരിക്കുക (ml) (svīkarikkuka) Maltese: aċċetta Mansaka: tangkap Maori: tautoko (mi), tahuri, tūtohi, tūtohu Maranao: tangkap Marathi: स्वीकारणे (svīkārṇe) Ngazidja Comorian: ukuɓali Norwegian: akseptere (no), motta, ta imot Occitan: acceptar (oc) Old English: onfōn Pashto: منل (ps) (manël) Persian: پذیرفتن (fa) (paziroftan), قبول کردن (fa) (qabul kardan) Polabian: an-våst Polish: przyjmować (pl) impf, przyjąć (pl) pf Portuguese: aceitar (pt) Quechua: añikuy Romanian: accepta (ro) Russian: принима́ть (ru) impf (prinimátʹ), приня́ть (ru) pf (prinjátʹ), соглаша́ться (ru) impf (soglašátʹsja), согласи́ться (ru) pf (soglasítʹsja) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: примати impf, примити pf Roman: primati (sh) impf, primiti (sh) pf Slovak: prijímať impf, prijať pf Slovene: sprejeti (sl) Spanish: aceptar (es), adir (es) Sudovian: enimt Swahili: kukubali Swedish: acceptera (sv), motta (sv) Tagalog: tanggapin, tumanggap Tajik: пазируфтан (tg) (paziruftan) Telugu: అంగీకరించు (te) (aṅgīkariñcu) Thai: รับ (th) (ráp), ยอมรับ (yɔɔm-ráp) Tongan: tali Turkish: kabul etmek (tr) Ukrainian: прийма́ти impf (pryjmáty), прийня́ти pf (pryjnjáty) Urdu: قبول کرنا (qubūl karnā) Vietnamese: chấp nhận (vi), nhận (vi) Volapük: lasumön (vo) Zazaki: bet biyen

to admit to a place or a group

Arabic: اِعْتَرَفَ (ar) (iʕtarafa) Azerbaijani: qəbul etmək (az) Chinese: Mandarin: 接纳 (zh) (jiēnà) Finnish: hyväksyä (fi) German: aufnehmen (de), akzeptieren (de), zulassen (de), einlassen (de) Hebrew: קיבל (he) (kibél) Hindi: स्वीकारना (hi) (svīkārnā) Old English: underfón Portuguese: aceitar (pt) Russian: принима́ть (ru) impf (prinimátʹ), приня́ть (ru) pf (prinjátʹ) Vietnamese: nhận vào

to regard as proper, usual, true, or to believe in

Czech: přijmout (cs) Finnish: hyväksyä (fi) German: akzeptieren (de), annehmen (de) Hebrew: קיבל (he) (kibél) Latin: asciscō Polish: akceptować (pl) impf, zaakceptować (pl) pf Portuguese: aceitar (pt) Russian: принима́ть (ru) impf (prinimátʹ), приня́ть (ru) pf (prinjátʹ), соглаша́ться (ru) impf (soglašátʹsja), согласи́ться (ru) pf (soglasítʹsja) Vietnamese: thừa nhận (vi)

to receive as adequate or satisfactory

Finnish: hyväksyä (fi) German: annehmen (de), akzeptieren (de) Hebrew: קיבל (he) (kibél) Russian: принима́ть (ru) impf (prinimátʹ), приня́ть (ru) (prinjátʹ) Vietnamese: chấp nhận (vi), nhận (vi)

to agree to

Arabic: قَبِلَ (ar) (qabila) Bulgarian: съгласявам се (sǎglasjavam se), разбирам (bg) (razbiram) Catalan: acceptar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 贊同 / 赞同 (zh) (zàntóng), 同意 (zh) (tóngyì), 贊成 / 赞成 (zh) (zànchéng) Danish: acceptere (da), indvilge, godtage Dutch: aanvaarden (nl), accepteren (nl) Finnish: hyväksyä (fi) French: accepter (fr) (de) Galician: aceptar (gl) German: akzeptieren (de), annehmen (de), zusagen (de), zustimmen (de) Hebrew: הסכים (he) (hiskím), קיבל (he) (kibél) Hindi: सहमत (hi) (sahmat) Hungarian: elfogad (hu) Indonesian: menyetujui (id) Italian: accettare (it), ammettere (it) Japanese: 承諾する (ja) (しょうだくする, shōdaku suru), 引き受ける (ja) (ひきうける, hikiukeru), 賛同する (ja) (さんどうする, sandō suru), 賛成する (ja) (さんせいする, sansei suru), 同意する (ja) (どういする, dōi suru) Korean: 찬동(贊同)하다 (ko) (chandonghada), 찬성(贊成)하다 (ko) (chanseonghada) Latin: scisco, accipio (la), audio (la) Luxembourgish: acceptéieren Maori: whakaae Norwegian: akseptere (no), godta (no) Old English: cēosan, þafian Polish: zgadzać się (pl) impf, zgodzić się (pl) pf, akceptować (pl) impf, zaakceptować (pl) pf Portuguese: aceitar (pt) Quechua: añiy, huñiy, uyniy Russian: принима́ть (ru) impf (prinimátʹ), приня́ть (ru) pf (prinjátʹ), соглаша́ться (ru) impf (soglašátʹsja), согласи́ться (ru) pf (soglasítʹsja) Spanish: aceptar (es) Swahili: kiri (sw) Swedish: acceptera (sv), godta (sv) Tagalog: sang-ayunan Telugu: అంగీకరించు (te) (aṅgīkariñcu) Thai: ยอมรับ (yɔɔm-ráp), ตกลง (th) (dtòk-long) Turkish: kabul etmek (tr) Ukrainian: погоджуватися (pohodžuvatysja), визнавати (uk) (vyznavaty) Vietnamese: chấp nhận (vi), nhận (vi)

to endure patiently

Bulgarian: понасям (bg) (ponasjam) Catalan: acceptar (ca) Dutch: aanvaarden (nl), ondergaan (nl) Finnish: hyväksyä (fi) French: prendre sur soi (fr), endurer patiemment Galician: aceptar (gl) German: hinnehmen (de), auf sich nehmen, in Kauf nehmen (de), ertragen (de) Hebrew: קיבל (he) (kibél), ספג (he) (safág) Italian: accettare (it) Japanese: 堪え忍ぶ (ja) (たえしのぶ, taeshinobu) Latin: accipio (la) Norwegian: aksepetere, godta (no) Old English: þolian, þafian Portuguese: aceitar (pt) Quechua: uynikuy Russian: принима́ть (ru) impf (prinimátʹ), приня́ть (ru) pf (prinjátʹ), смиря́ться (ru) impf (smirjátʹsja), смири́ться (ru) pf (smirítʹsja) Swedish: acceptera (sv), uthärda (sv) Tagalog: tanggapin, tiisin Thai: ยอมรับ (yɔɔm-ráp) Vietnamese: chịu (vi), đảm nhận (vi)

to acknowledge patiently

Russian: принима́ть (ru) impf (prinimátʹ), приня́ть (ru) pf (prinjátʹ), смиря́ться (ru) impf (smirjátʹsja), смири́ться (ru) pf (smirítʹsja)

to agree to pay

Bulgarian: акцептирам (akceptiram) Catalan: acceptar (ca) Finnish: hyväksyä (fi) French: accepter de payer German: kaufen (de), akzeptieren (de), annehmen (de) Italian: accettare (it) Latin: accipio (la), audio (la) Norwegian: akseptere (no) Portuguese: aceitar (pt) Swahili: kiri (sw) Vietnamese: nhận (vi)

to receive officially

Catalan: acceptar (ca) Czech: akceptovat (cs), přijmout (cs), přijímat (cs) Dutch: ontvangen (nl), aannemen (nl) Finnish: ottaa vastaan (fi), vastaanottaa (fi) French: accueillir (fr) German: annehmen (de), empfangen (de), entgegennehmen (de) Hebrew: קיבל (he) (kibél) Hindi: अनुबंध (hi) m (anubandh) Italian: accettare (it) Japanese: 受け取る (ja) (うけとる, uketoru) Latin: scisco, accipio (la) Norwegian: motta Old English: underfón Portuguese: aceitar (pt) Russian: принима́ть (ru) impf (prinimátʹ), приня́ть (ru) pf (prinjátʹ) Spanish: aceptar (es) Swahili: kiri (sw) Vietnamese: nhận (vi)

to receive something willingly

Finnish: hyväksyä (fi) German: akzeptieren (de) Maori: mauminamina Old English: underfón Russian: принима́ть (ru) impf (prinimátʹ), приня́ть (ru) pf (prinjátʹ)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Ido: (please verify) aceptar (io) Indonesian: (please verify) terima (id), (please verify) setuju (id) Interlingua: (please verify) acceptar Norman: (please verify) atchiêsci (Jersey) Woiwurrung: (please verify) wandan-nata

Adjective

accept (comparative more accept, superlative most accept)

1. (Early Modern, obsolete) Accepted.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V, V-ii:

     Pass our accept and peremptory answer.

Noun

accept (plural accepts)

1. (computing) Something that is accepted.

   Antonym: reject

   • 1996, Jim Blinn, Jim Blinn's Corner: A Trip Down the Graphics Pipeline, page 127:

     Almost all line segments will be trivial accepts or trivial rejects, so the above covers the vast majority of cases.

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [akˈt͡ʃept]

Etymology 1

Borrowed from German Akzept, from Latin acceptus.

Noun

accept n (plural accepte)

1. acceptance

Declension

Declension of accept

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	accept	acceptul		accepte	acceptele
genitive-dative	accept	acceptului		accepte	acceptelor
vocative	acceptule			acceptelor

Etymology 2

Verb

accept

1. first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of accepta

Scots

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [əkˈsɛp(t)]

Verb

accept (third-person singular simple present accepts, present participle acceptin, simple past acceptit, past participle acceptit)

1. accept

References

• “accept, v.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC.
• Eagle, Andy, editor (2016) The Online Scots Dictionary, Scots Online.

Swedish

Etymology

From Latin acceptum, from accipere.

Noun

accept c

1. (finance, business) a bill of exchange that has been accepted
2. (finance, business) the acceptance of a bill of exchange

Declension

Declension of accept

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	accept	accepts
	definite	accepten	acceptens
plural	indefinite	accepter	accepters
	definite	accepterna	accepternas

Declension of accept 2

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	accept	accepts
	definite	acceptet	acceptets
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

Derived terms

• acceptfrist
• acceptpris
• oren accept

Related terms

• acceptant
• acceptera

References

• accept in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• accept in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• accept in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)