▪ I. † accept, ppl. a. Obs.
(ækˈsɛpt)
[ad. L. accept-us, pa. pple. of accip-ĕre to receive, take what is offered, f. ac- = ad- to + -cipĕre = capĕre to take.]
= accepted.
| 1382 Wyclif 2 Cor. vi. 2 In tyme accept, or wel plesynge, I haue herd thee. 1432–50 Trevisa Higden (Rolls Ser.) I. 108 Thapostle testifienge, that ‘thei diedde alle, the promissiones not accepte.’ c 1510 Barclay Mir. of Good Manners (1570) E ij. Suche maners shall thee make..before all other accept and amiable. 1526 Tindale Luke i. 75 In suche holynes and ryghtewesnes that are accept before him. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, v. ii. 82 We will suddenly Passe our accept and peremptorie answer. |
▪ II. accept, v.
(ækˈsɛpt)
Pa. pple. at first accept, now accepted.
[? a. Fr. accepte-r (14th c. acepter), ad. L. acceptā-re, freq. of accip-ĕre: see prec. (Wyclif may have taken it directly from L.)]
gen. To take or receive what is offered. Hence,
1. a. To take or receive (a thing offered) willingly, or with consenting mind; to receive (a thing or person) with favour or approval, e.g. to receive as a prospective husband. Also, to take or receive with patience or resignation, to tolerate.
| c 1380 Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1879) 257 Þes foure witnessis weren acceptid of þe holy gost. 1461–83 Ord. for Royal Househ. 54 Wardes..take..allwey lyveres of mete & drinke & other by the Thesaurere of houshold tyll they be accepted to theyre landes or elles solde by the Kinge. 1494 Fabyan iii. lvii. 37 They made humble request to the kynge that he wolde accept theym vnto his grace. 1525 Ld. Berners Froissart II. lxxxvii. 257 He sente letters of defyaunce..whiche were nothynge pleasaunt accepted of the Kynge. 1535 Coverdale Mal. i. 13 Ye haue brought me in a meatofferynge, shulde I accepte it of youre honde? 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. ii. 109 You should refuse to performe your Father's will, if you should refuse to accept him. Ibid. iv. ii. 9 His ring I doe accept most thankfully. 1719 Young Busiris ii. i. (1757) 32 My lord, I want the courage to accept What far transcends my merit. 1782 Cowper Let. 18 Nov. Wks. 1876, 121 Accept, therefore, your share of their gratitude. 1802 Southey Thalaba v. 39 Hear me, Angels! so may Heaven Accept, and mitigate your penitence. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede II. xvii. 3 These fellow-mortals, every one, must be accepted as they are. 1862 Wilkie Collins No Name I. i. ii. 26 Accept the situation—as the French say. 1880 M. Pattison Milton 55 The girl herself conceived an equal repugnance to the husband she had thoughtlessly accepted. 1882 Daily Tel. 17 May, (Cricket.) Leslie gave an easy chance to M‘Donnell at slip, which was not accepted. 1934 Punch 3 Jan. 6/1 There are not going to be fewer cars, but more, so you'll be wise to accept them. |
b. Of a female animal: to permit (copulation).
| 1931 Pickard & Crew Rabbit Breeding ii. 10 The period of ‘season’ or ‘heat’ is the time when a doe accepts coitus. 1933 E. F. Daglish Dog Owner's Guide viii. 199 Some bitches will accept the dog earlier, but about the tenth day is usually the ideal. |
2. to accept the person or face of: To receive any one's advances with favour, to treat him as a persōna grāta, to favour him (esp. on corrupt grounds, as personal attractions, rank, influence, power to bribe). Hence to accept persons: To show (corrupt) partiality or favouritism. [A Hebraism nāsā' phānīm ‘to accept the face,’ literally rendered in N.T. Greek προσωποληπτεῖν, and in Vulgate acceptāre persōn-am, -as, whence it has passed into Eng. theological language.]
| c 1360 Wyclif De Dotacione Eccl. 104 For Crist may not of his ryȝtwisnes þus accepte persones. 1535 Coverdale 1 Esd. iv. 39 The trueth accepteth no personnes, it putteth no difference betwixte rych or poore. 1611 Bible Job xiii. 10 He will surely reprooue you, if yee doe secretly accept persons. ― Gal. ii. 6 God accepteth no mans person. [Wyclif, God takith not the persoone of man. Tindale, God loketh on no man's person. Coverdale, God loketh not on the outwarde appearaunce of men. Cranmer, God loketh on the outward appearaunce of no man. Geneva, God loketh on no man's person. Rheims, God accepteth not the person of man.] |
3. To receive as sufficient or adequate; hence, to admit, agree to, believe.
| 1530 Palsgr. 416, I accepte, or take in worthe, or alowe: I accepte all his commaundementes in good worthe. 1534 Whittinton Tully's Off. (1540) iii. 167 These thre bokes shall be accept and taken as straungers or gestes amonge the commentaryes and workes of Cratippus. 1651 Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxi. 114 He hath Libertie to accept the condition. 1729 Burkitt On New Test. Mark xii. 44 God Almighty accepts the will of those that give cheerfully. 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. II. App. 530 A fact which we may surely accept on the authority of the Biographer. Mod. His apology was not accepted. To accept the Calvinistic doctrine of the atonement, the evolution theory, etc. |
b. Law. to accept service of a writ: to agree to consider as valid its informal delivery.
4. To take formally (what is offered) with contemplation of its consequences and obligations; to take upon oneself, to undertake as a responsibility.
| 1524 Wolsey in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) I. 81 They shall have little leisure either to mind or accept the seige of Calais. 1530 Palsgr. 416, I accepte, or take in hande. 1728 Pope Dunc. ii. 167 Osborne and Curl accept the glorious strife. 1869 Hook Lives of Archbps. I. vii. 368 His disinclination to accept the office was real and sincere. 1880 M. Pattison Milton 94 The post was offered him, but would he accept it? |
¶ In the preceding senses accept is frequently followed by of.
| 1580 North Plutarch (1676) 22 They sent defiance to each other..Both of them accepted of it. 1611 Bible 2 Macc. xiii. 24 And [the King] accepted well of Maccabeus, made him principall gouernor. 1722 De Foe Hist. Plague 71 If he would accept of that lodging he might haue it. 1792 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) III. 456 There are some hopes they will accept of peace. 1818 Q. Rev. XVIII. 459 He will not accept of the text as adopted by his predecessors. |
5. a. Comm. To accept a bill or draft (said of the person to whom the bill or letter of exchange is addressed, or one who takes his place, or accepts ‘for the honour’ of the drawer or endorser): to acknowledge formally its receipt or presentation, and undertake the liability or obligation to meet it when due; to agree or promise to pay.
The acceptor usually writes the word ‘Accepted’ with his signature on the face of the document; adding the date, when the latter affects the date of payment.
| 1665 S. Bing in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 310, IV. 24 Trading strangely ceaseth, and bills of Exchange are not accepted. 1848 Mill Pol. Econ. (1876) iii. xi. §3. 312 A bill of exchange..when accepted by the debtor, that is authenticated by his signature, becomes an acknowledgment of debt. |
b. absol.
| a 1845 Hood Sniffing a Birthday vii, I'm free to give my IOU, Sign, draw, accept, as majors do. |
Add: [1.] c. Of an inanimate thing: to take into itself, to receive and hold fast; (of a substance, etc.) to admit, to absorb; (of an electronic device) to receive and respond to (data, etc.); (of an electrical or mechanical device) to allow to be inserted, connected, or attached.
| 1925 [implied in proton-accepting s.v. proton n. 3]. 1950 W. W. Stifler High-Speed Computing xv. 386 An analog-to-digital converter is a device which accepts instantaneous values of continously variable quantities. 1950 W. Shockley Electrons & Holes in Semiconductors 14 Impurities with a valence of five are called ‘donor impurities’ because they donate an excess electron to the crystal; those with a valence of three are called ‘acceptor impurities’, since they accept an electron from somewhere else in the cyrstal.., thus leaving a hole to conduct. 1962 B.S.I. News Mar. 24/2 Socket-outlets requiring fused plugs must not accept unfused plugs. 1967 Karch & Buber Offset Processes ii. 40 The RCA-301 computer accepts punched paper tape and produces a new tape, adding justification (otherwise keyboarded by the Teletypesetter operator). 1976 Railway Mag. Aug. 391/2 The ceiling of pre-formed Melamine-surfaced panels is designed to accept the fluorescent lighting tubes. 1982 Brit. Telecommunications Engin. Apr. 9/1, 200 payphones which accept..a phone card. 1989 Q Dec. 96/2 (Advt.), The distinctive loading facility accepts 3-inch CD singles without calling for an adaptor. 1991 Photo Answers Apr. 36/2 Matt or semi-matt papers accept dyes the best. |