concession
(kənˈsɛʃən)
[a. F. concession (16th c.), or ad. L. concessiōn-em, n. of action f. concess-, ppl. stem of concēdĕre to concede.]
1. a. The action of conceding, yielding, or granting (anything asked or required).
| 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. (1843) 6/1 By his concession of the violent passion his highness was transported with. 1651 Hobbes Govt. & Soc. xvi. 282 The Right whereby the Kings did rule, was founded in the very concession of the People. a 1676 Hale Comm. Law Eng. (J.), The concession of these charters was in a parliamentary way. 1780 Burke Sp. Bristol Wks. III. 371 When..I wished you to concede to America, at a time when she prayed concession at our feet. 1876 Mozley Univ. Serm. v. 114 In this country..civil war has been forestalled by opportune concession. 1887 Daily News 22 Nov. 2/8 At Mark-lane there was a lack of demand, and..to have forced business some concession would have been necessary. |
b. (with pl.) An act of conceding; a grant.
| 1611 Cotgr., Concession, a concession, grant, or granting. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. (1843) 5/2 New Concessions, which would create new Difficulties. 1759 Robertson Hist. Scot. I. ii. 145 Liberal concessions in behalf of their religion. 1863 Bright Sp. America 20 Mar., But these concessions failed, as I believe concessions to evil always do fail. |
2. Admission of a point claimed in argument; acknowledgement of the validity or justice of a proposition or idea.
In Rhet., the surrender by a disputant of a controvertible point or position, in order to ground a fresh argument thereon, or to clear the way for one of greater importance.
| 1628 T. Spencer Logick 242 The Apostle Paul..is content to yeeld his accusers, that, he was rude in speech..The first is true by concession onely; not in the thing: for his speech was excellent. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 42 He [Satan] endeavours to propagate the unbelief of witches, whose concession infers his coexistency. 1777 Priestley Matt. & Spir. (1782) I. xvii. 204 The atheists of the age have been described as triumphing in my concessions. 1874 Roby Lat. Gram. §1625 The indicatives, licet, licebit, often introduce a concession. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 61, I double my concession: grant, along with new life sure, This same law. |
3. a. A grant of land or other property made by a government or ruling power.
| 1656 Blount Glossogr., Concession, sufferance, leave, or pardon; a Grant. 1660 R. Coke Power & Subj. 73 And so..their estates, which are nothing but concessions originally from the Crown. 1777 Robertson Hist. Amer. (1783) II. 218 In this service he..received an ample concession of lands and of Indians. 1868 E. Edwards Raleigh I. vi. 95 To all those..large concessions of land were made. |
b. A piece of land or territory so allotted.
| 1764 Quebec Gaz. 23 Aug. 4/2 The said Seigneurie [is] capable of containing upwards of 500 Plantations in more than 3 Concessions Depth on each Side the River. 1820 C. Stuart Guide to Upper Canada p. x, A Concession. Parallel with the front of the township..a second line..is the rear of the front or the first concession... Space for a road is then left, and a third line..becomes the front of the second concession; thus, the whole depth is divided into concessions, with space for a road between every two. These concessions are divided into lots. 1846 J. Taylor Upper Canada 98 Property, in Canada, is divided by what is called concessions..Between the concessions there are roads, called concession roads. 1883 Pall Mall G. 14 Sept. 7/1 [In Canton] a furious mob surrounded the concession, howling and threatening the destruction of all within it. |
c. A grant or lease of a small area or of a portion of premises for some specified purpose, e.g. for the establishment of a refreshment stand; the business premises, etc., thus established. N. Amer.
| 1910 Sat. Even. Post 9 July 5/3 A third of this goes to the park, for it is a concession, and in addition it must pay rent. 1948 Miami (Okla.) Daily News-Record 4 July 11/4 He has operated the concession stand in the Miami postoffice for the last four years. 1962 S. Strand Marketing Dict. 149 Concession, a leasing of a section of a store by the owner to another businessman who sells his wares there. Also a stand at a fair or on a board-walk. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 36 (Advt.), Rooms... Directly on Ocean Front. Walking Distance to Pavilion, Stores and Concessions. 1970 New Yorker 3 Oct. 127/1 When it was over, the manager of Pepsi's snack-bar concession..came up..in something of a rage. |
4. a. A right or privilege granted by government to an individual or company. [F. concession.]
| 1856 Edin. Rev. Jan. 264 (L.) The execution of the [Suez] canal..A Frenchman has obtained the concession; and it may be executed by French engineers and French workmen. |
b. A right or privilege granted by a commercial organization to an individual or company, esp. to market certain goods. (See also quot. 1979.)
| 1957 Encycl. Brit. VI. 201/1 Some..of these companies were originally based upon concessions made by chiefs or tribes of the various regions..and they in turn granted concessions for the development of industries. 1965 B. Pearce tr. Preobrazhensky's New Econ. 135 When large concessions are granted in basic branches of state industry which suffer from a shortage of capital it becomes clear from the very start that these concession enterprises are not on equal terms with the state enterprises. 1979 Gloss. Terms Quality Assurance (B.S.I.) 11/1 Concession, the authorization to use or release a limited quantity of material, components or stores already manufactured but not complying with the specified requirements. 1985 Financial Times 5 June 24/5 The issue carries much larger fees than a Eurobond... They total 3½ per cent made up of a 2 per cent selling concession, a 3/4 per cent management fee [etc.]. |