admit
verb/ədˈmɪt/
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”).
To allow to enter; to grant entrance (to), whether into a place, into the mind, or into consideration.
- to admit a serious thought into the mind
- to admit evidence in the trial of a cause
3 more examples
- A ticket admits one into a playhouse.
- They were admitted into his house.
- 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.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 51:
To allow (someone) to enter a profession or to enjoy a privilege; to recognize as qualified for a franchise.
- to admit an attorney to practice law
- The prisoner was admitted to bail.
To concede as true; to acknowledge or assent to, as an allegation which it is impossible to deny (+ to).
- the argument or fact is admitted
- He admitted his guilt.
4 more examples
- She admitted taking drugs / she admitted to taking drugs.
- 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.1950 January, David L. Smith, “A Runaway at Beattock”, in Railway Magazine, pages 54–55:
- His sister, Patti, also admitted taking drugs, […]2011, Kitty Kelley, Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography, →ISBN:
- Police officers at a checkpoint in Bangkok's Huay Kwang district admitted to extorting 27,000 baht from a Taiwanese actress […]2023 January 30, “Bangkok police admit to extorting 27,000 baht from Taiwanese actress”, in The Nation, Bangkok: The Nation Multimedia:
To be capable of; to permit. In this sense, "of" may be used after the verb, or may be omitted.
- The words do not admit such a construction.
- Four bells admit twenty-four changes in ringing.1669, William Holder, Elements of Speech:
2 more examples
- There is no tree admits of transplantation so well as the Elm, for a tree of twenty years growth will admit of a remove.1761, John Mordant, The Complete Steward:
- 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.1986 February 15, Michael Bronski, “Carl Wittman: An Activist's Life”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 31, page 7:
With of To give warrant or allowance, to grant opportunity or permission.
- Circumstances do not admit of this.
- The text does not admit of this interpretation.
To allow to enter a hospital or similar facility for treatment.
- "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."2011 December 16, Denis Campbell, “Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients'”, in Guardian:
- Synonyms
- inlet, let in, acknowledge, own, grant
- Derived terms
- admit defeat, admittable, admittance, admittedly, admittee, admitter, admitting, admittingly, coadmit, nonadmitted, preadmit, re-admit, readmit, unadmittable, unadmitted, unadmittedly, unadmitting
- Related terms
- admissible, admission, mission