Etymograph

English

accede

Accede comes from Latin accēdō ‘approach, accede’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccēdō1‘approach, accede’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500acceden1
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1876accede1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English accede
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1876, E. H. Nolan, The History of England: “It was added that if he acceded to these…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccēdōWiktionary, English accede‘approach, accede’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500accedenWiktionary, English accede
  3. Englishearliest quotation c. 1876accedeWiktionary, English accede. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1876, E. H. Nolan, The History of England: “It was added that if he acceded to these…”

A compound of ad ‘to, toward, at’ + cēdō ‘move, yield’

Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘near, at’

Proto-Italic *ad ‘toward, to, on, up to, for’

Latin ad ‘to, toward, at’

Proto-Italic *kezdō

Latin cēdō ‘move, yield’

first attested First attested in the early 15th century (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in the early 15th century. Unrelated to ascend, aside from the common ad prefix.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin accēdō ‘approach, accede’

access, 5 more

Today it means

verb To agree or assent [with to ‘a proposal, a request’]; to give way.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “accede”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin accēdō / accede

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