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)

(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.
(transitive) To admit to a place or a group.
The Boy Scouts were going to accept him as a member.
(transitive) To regard as proper, usual, true, or to believe in.
I accept the notion that Christ lived.
(transitive) To receive as adequate or satisfactory.
(transitive) To receive or admit to; to agree to; to assent to; to submit to.
I accept your proposal, amendment, or excuse.
(transitive) To endure patiently.
I accept my punishment.
(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.
(transitive, law, business) To agree to pay.
(transitive) To receive officially.
to accept the report of a committee
(intransitive) To receive something willingly.
(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	accepted

subjunctive	accept	accepted

imperative	accept	—

participles	accepting	accepted

^†Archaic or obsolete.

Antonyms

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

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

to receive with consent

Afrikaans: aanvaar (af)
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: קיבל \ קִבֵּל (he) (kibél)
Hindi: स्वीकार करना (svīkār karnā)
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)
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)
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)
Turkish: kabul etmek (tr)
Ukrainian: прийма́ти impf (pryjmáty), прийня́ти pf (pryjnjáty)
Urdu: قبول کرنا (qubūl karnā)
Vietnamese: chấp nhận (vi), nhận (vi)
Volapük: lensumön, lüsumön (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)
Old English: underfón
Portuguese: aceitar (pt)
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)
Vietnamese: thừa nhận (vi)

to receive as adequate or satisfactory

Finnish: hyväksyä (fi)
German: annehmen (de), akzeptieren (de)
Hebrew: קיבל (he) (kibél)
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)
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)
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)
Swedish: acceptera (sv), uthärda (sv)
Tagalog: tanggapin, tiisin
Thai: ยอมรับ (yɔɔm-ráp)
Vietnamese: chịu (vi), đảm nhận (vi)

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)
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

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)

Adjective

accept (comparative more accept, superlative most accept)

(Early Modern, obsolete) Accepted.
- 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V, V-ii:
  Pass our accept and peremptory answer.

Romanian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [akˈt͡ʃept]

Etymology 1

Borrowed from German Akzept, from Latin acceptus.

Noun

accept n (plural accepte)

acceptance

Declension

Declension of accept

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) accept	acceptul	(niște) accepte	acceptele
genitive/dative	(unui) accept	acceptului	(unor) accepte	acceptelor
vocative	acceptule		acceptelor

Etymology 2

Verb

accept

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)

accept

References

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

Swedish

Etymology

From Latin acceptum, from accipere.

Noun

accept c

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

Declension

Declension of accept
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	accept	accepten	accepter	accepterna
Genitive	accepts	acceptens	accepters	accepternas

Declension of accept 2
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	accept	acceptet	—	—
Genitive	accepts	acceptets	—	—

Derived terms

Related terms

References