admit

From Middle English admitten, amitten, borrowed from Old French admettre, amettre (“to admit”), from Latin admittō (“to allow entrance, inlet”, literally “to send to”), from ad- + mittere (“to send”).

• IPA^(key): /ədˈmɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪt

admit (third-person singular simple present admits, present participle admitting, simple past and past participle admitted)

1. (transitive) To allow to enter; to grant entrance (to), whether into a place, into the mind, or into consideration

   A ticket admits one into a playhouse.

   They were admitted into his house.

   to admit a serious thought into the mind

   to admit evidence in the trial of a cause

   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXXII, page 51:

     Her eyes are homes of silent prayer,
     ⁠Nor other thought her mind admits
     ⁠But, he was dead, and there he sits,
     And he that brought him back is there.

2. (transitive) To allow (someone) to enter a profession or to enjoy a privilege; to recognize as qualified for a franchise.

   to admit an attorney to practice law

   the prisoner was admitted to bail

3. (transitive or intransitive) To concede as true; to acknowledge or assent to, as an allegation which it is impossible to deny (+ to).

   Synonyms: own up, confess

   the argument or fact is admitted

   he admitted his guilt

   she admitted taking drugs / she admitted to taking drugs

   • 1950 January, David L. Smith, “A Runaway at Beattock”, in Railway Magazine, pages 54–55:

     However, a Carlisle newspaper got hold of the story, and at the half-yearly meeting of the Caledonian Railway Company, held on March 17, 1863, a shareholder, Mr. Meiklem, questioned the Chairman, Lt.-Col. Salkeld, regarding a "Chase of Engines," described in the newspaper article. The Chairman admitted that the statements made in the article were perfectly true.

   • 2011, Kitty Kelley, Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography, →ISBN:

     His sister, Patti, also admitted taking drugs, […]

   • 2023 January 30, “Bangkok police admit to extorting 27,000 baht from Taiwanese actress”, in The Nation‎, Bangkok: The Nation Multimedia:

     Police officers at a checkpoint in Bangkok's Huay Kwang district admitted to extorting 27,000 baht from a Taiwanese actress […]

4. (transitive) To be capable of; to permit. In this sense, "of" may be used after the verb, or may be omitted.

   the words do not admit such a construction.

   • 1669, William Holder, Elements of Speech:

     Four bells admit twenty-four changes in ringing.

   • 1761, John Mordant, The Complete Steward:

     There is no tree admits of transplantation so well as the Elm, for a tree of twenty years growth will admit of a remove.

5. (intransitive) To give warrant or allowance, to grant opportunity or permission (+ of).

   circumstances do not admit of this

   the text does not admit of this interpretation

6. (transitive) To allow to enter a hospital or similar facility for treatment.
   • 2011 December 16, Denis Campbell, “Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients'”, in Guardian‎:

     "This shocking report proves once again that we urgently need a radical shake-up of hospital care," said Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society. "Given that people with dementia occupy a quarter of hospital beds and that many leave in worse health than when they were admitted, it is unacceptable that training in dementia care is not the norm."

In the sense "concede to be true", this is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs

• (to allow entry to): inlet, let in
• (to recognise as true): acknowledge, own

• admissible
• admission
• mission

• IPA^(key): /ad.mi/

• Audio (CAN)

  (file)

admit

1. third-person singular past historic of admettre