English
accept
Accept comes from Latin acceptō ‘to receive’, frequentative of accipiō, and ultimately from capiō ‘to take’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapiō1‘to take’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccipiō1‘to receive’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEacceptō1‘to receive’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400accepter1uncertain
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500accepten1‘to accept’
- Englishearliest quotation 1599accept1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English accept
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V: “Pass our accept and peremptory answer.”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapiōWiktionary, English accept‘to take’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccipiōWiktionary, English accept‘to receive’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEacceptōWiktionary, English accept‘to receive’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400accepterWiktionary, English acceptuncertain
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500acceptenWiktionary, English accept‘to accept’
- Englishearliest quotation 1599acceptWiktionary, English accept. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V: “Pass our accept and peremptory answer.”
first attested First attested about 1380 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)
The story
First attested about 1380.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kap-
had, head, capital, heavy, catch, behavior, captain, escape, heavily, capacity, chapter, achieve, cape, except, chef, cattle, cabin, haven, chapel, occupation, behave, capitol, capita, hawk, precipitation, captive, chaplain, cad, captivity, mischief, conceive, mischievous, conceivable, 145 more
through Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti ‘to be grasping’
through Proto-Italic *kapjō ‘to take, seize’
case, capsule, cashier, chassis, cassette, casket, 30 more
through Archaic Latin kapiō
through Latin capiō ‘to take’
cash, receive, capable, cable, chase, cop, recipe, capture, recipient, anticipation, anticipate, reception, perception, cater, caption, susceptible, deceive, deception, deceit, deceptive, 32 more
Today it means
verb To receive, especially with a consent, with favour, or with approval.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “accept”. 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 capiō / accept