English
access
Access comes from Middle English accesse, from Middle French acces or its source, Latin accessus, from accēdō ‘to approach’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdō1‘to move, yield’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccēdō1‘to approach’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccessus1‘approach’perfect passive participle of accēdō
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600acces1‘attack, onslaught’uncertain
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500accesse1
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602access1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English access
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “I did repel his fetters, and denied His access…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcēdōWiktionary, English access‘to move, yield’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccēdōWiktionary, English access‘to approach’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccessusWiktionary, English access‘approach’perfect passive participle of accēdō
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600accesWiktionary, English access‘attack, onslaught’uncertain
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500accesseWiktionary, English access
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602accessWiktionary, English access. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “I did repel his fetters, and denied His access…”
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 14th century (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)
The story
First attested in the early 14th century. The sense "entrance" was first attested about 1380.
Linked words
through Latin accēdō ‘approach’
through Latin accessus
Today it means
noun A way or means of approaching or entering; an entrance; a passage.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “access”. 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 cēdō / access