cession

noun

ces·​sion ˈse-shən 

: a yielding to another : concession

Synonyms of cession

• surrender
• submission
• relinquishment

Examples of cession in a Sentence

territorial cessions from one state to another

The law required cession of the land to the heirs.

Recent Examples on the Web

Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out said that the 1851 and 1868 Fort Laramie treaties requires the US government to provide food, supplies and support in exchange for peace, land cessions and passage. —Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025

But the minerals deal in the name of compensating American largesse is hardly the worst outcome for Ukraine, especially when compared with the loss of Crimea and cession of whatever other territory Putin gets. —Samuel Moyn, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025

Meanwhile, Schlafly joined Loeb and other conservative leaders on the Emergency Committee to Save the U.S. Canal Zone to lambast any cession of the Canal as threatening the nation’s security. —Aaron Coy Moulton / Made By History, TIME, 16 Jan. 2025

Zelensky also addressed reports suggesting that President-elect Donald Trump might propose a peace plan involving Ukraine's cession of occupied lands in exchange for NATO membership. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 29 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin cession-, cessio, from cedere to withdraw — more at cede

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for cession

• freshen
• hessian
• pression
• session
• accession
• aggression
• compression
• concession
• confession
• depression
• digression
• discretion

Kids Definition

cession

noun

ces·​sion ˈsesh-ən 

: a giving over (as of territory or rights) to another

Legal Definition

cession

noun

ces·​sion ˈse-shən 

1

: an act of ceding : a yielding (as of property) to another: as

a

in the civil law of Louisiana : assignment or transfer of property rights by a debtor to a creditor

b

: transfer of liability by an insurer to a reinsurer

c

: transfer of control of or sovereignty over specific property or territory especially by treaty

such district…as may, by cession of particular States…become the seat of the government of the United States

—U.S. Constitution art. I

2

: the monetary amount of liability ceded by an insurer to a reinsurer compare concession