ac·ces·sion
ik-ˈse-shən 
ak-
1
a
: the act or process by which someone rises to a position of honor or power
the accession of a new queen
a politician's accession to power
Queen Victoria's accession to the throne/crown occurred in 1837.
b
: an act of coming near or to something : approach, admittance
2
: something added : acquisition
the museum's latest accessions
3
a
: increase by something added
b
: acquisition of additional property (as by growth or increase of existing property)
4
: the act of assenting or agreeing
5
a
: the act of becoming joined : adherence
b
: the act by which one nation becomes party to an agreement already in force between other powers
6
: a sudden fit or outburst : access
accessioned; accessioning; accessions
: to record in order of acquisition
Each book in the library had been carefully accessioned.
Synonyms
Examples of accession in a Sentence
Noun
the accession of Queen Elizabeth II
an exhibit of the museum's latest accessions
Recent Examples on the Web
Anna Mulrine Grobe, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Apr. 2024
Austria vetoed Romania and Bulgaria’s admission into the Schengen zone at the end of 2022 but allowed Croatia full accession.
—Stephen McGrath and Veselin Toshkov, Quartz, 31 Mar. 2024
Another idea is to invite Ukraine to begin accession talks, a model borrowed from the EU enlargement process.
—Ivo Daalder, Foreign Affairs, 26 Mar. 2024
Louis, Gus and Freddy all slipped into uniforms to act as Pages of Honor for their grandmother during the historic service, where King Charles and Queen Camilla were symbolically crowned seven months after his accession in September 2022.
—Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 20 Mar. 2024
On Thursday, after months of uncertainty caused by the hesitations of Turkey and Hungary, Sweden officially became a member by depositing its legal paperwork — its instrument of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty — with the U.S. State Department in Washington.
—Steven Erlanger, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024
Sweden’s accession earlier this month turned the Baltic Sea into a NATO lake.
—Ivo Daalder, Foreign Affairs, 26 Mar. 2024
Hungary and Turkey, the only holdouts, held up Sweden’s accession until this year.
—Andrew Higgins, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024
However, under the accession rules, any member state can veto a new country from joining.
—Joshua Berlinger, CNN, 26 Feb. 2024
Matthew Luxmoore, WSJ, 8 Nov. 2023
The transmission of the trove to the library has begun, as has accessioning (sorting through and processing items on the library’s end).
—Celia Wren, Washington Post, 29 June 2023
Should museums de-accession their art?
—CBS News, 3 Mar. 2021
The National Gallery accessioned some 8,300 works, including pieces by Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Edwin Church, Edward Hopper and Jenny Holzer, transforming its holdings of American and contemporary art and photography.
—Peggy McGlone, Washington Post, 6 Sep. 2019
The artworks that brought in the huge sums at Christie’s were being de-accessioned by the Fujita Museum in Osaka, Japan.
—Graham Bowley, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2017
Noun
Yet Sweden’s accession to NATO – made possible when Hungary finally approved the membership bid in February – has garnered growing majorities of support among Swedes ever since Russia invaded Ukraine.
—Anna Mulrine Grobe, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 Apr. 2024
Austria vetoed Romania and Bulgaria’s admission into the Schengen zone at the end of 2022 but allowed Croatia full accession.
—Stephen McGrath and Veselin Toshkov, Quartz, 31 Mar. 2024
Another idea is to invite Ukraine to begin accession talks, a model borrowed from the EU enlargement process.
—Ivo Daalder, Foreign Affairs, 26 Mar. 2024
Louis, Gus and Freddy all slipped into uniforms to act as Pages of Honor for their grandmother during the historic service, where King Charles and Queen Camilla were symbolically crowned seven months after his accession in September 2022.
—Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 20 Mar. 2024
On Thursday, after months of uncertainty caused by the hesitations of Turkey and Hungary, Sweden officially became a member by depositing its legal paperwork — its instrument of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty — with the U.S. State Department in Washington.
—Steven Erlanger, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024
Sweden’s accession earlier this month turned the Baltic Sea into a NATO lake.
—Ivo Daalder, Foreign Affairs, 26 Mar. 2024
Hungary and Turkey, the only holdouts, held up Sweden’s accession until this year.
—Andrew Higgins, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024
However, under the accession rules, any member state can veto a new country from joining.
—Joshua Berlinger, CNN, 26 Feb. 2024
Verb
The European Union recommended Wednesday that the bloc begins membership talks with Ukraine soon, boosting President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has made EU accession a central goal.
—Matthew Luxmoore, WSJ, 8 Nov. 2023
The transmission of the trove to the library has begun, as has accessioning (sorting through and processing items on the library’s end).
—Celia Wren, Washington Post, 29 June 2023
Should museums de-accession their art?
—CBS News, 3 Mar. 2021
The National Gallery accessioned some 8,300 works, including pieces by Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Edwin Church, Edward Hopper and Jenny Holzer, transforming its holdings of American and contemporary art and photography.
—Peggy McGlone, Washington Post, 6 Sep. 2019
The artworks that brought in the huge sums at Christie’s were being de-accessioned by the Fujita Museum in Osaka, Japan.
—Graham Bowley, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'accession.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near accession
Cite this Entry
“Accession.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accession. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLegal Definition
accession
noun
ac·ces·sion
ik-ˈse-shən, ak-
1
: increase by something added
specifically
: the mode of acquiring property by which the owner of property (as a building, land, or cattle) becomes the owner of an addition by growth, improvement, increase, or labor
2
: the act of assenting or agreeing
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