accede

verb

ac·​cede ak-ˈsēd 

ik-

acceded; acceding

intransitive verb

1

formal

a

: to express approval or give consent : to agree to a request or demand

—usually + to

The government acceded to their demands.

b

: to become a party to something (such as an agreement)

—usually + to

accede to the terms of a contract

2

formal : to enter upon an office or position

—usually + to

He acceded to the throne [=became king] in 1838.

3

archaic, formal : approach

Did you know?

To accede usually means to yield, often under pressure and with some reluctance, to the needs or requests of others. Voters usually accede to a tax increase only when they're convinced it's the only real solution to a shortfall in government funding. A patient may accede to surgery only after the doctor assures him it's better than the alternatives. If you accede to your spouse's plea to watch the new reality show at 9:00, you may get to choose something better at 10:00.

Synonyms of accede

• agree
• assent
• acquiesce
• consent

Choose the Right Synonym for accede

assent, consent, accede, acquiesce, agree, subscribe mean to concur with what has been proposed.

assent implies an act involving the understanding or judgment and applies to propositions or opinions.

voters assented to the proposal

consent involves the will or feelings and indicates compliance with what is requested or desired.

consented to their daughter's going

accede implies a yielding, often under pressure, of assent or consent.

officials acceded to the prisoners' demands

acquiesce implies tacit acceptance or forbearance of opposition.

acquiesced to his boss's wishes

agree sometimes implies previous difference of opinion or attempts at persuasion.

finally agreed to come along

subscribe implies not only consent or assent but hearty approval and active support.

subscribes wholeheartedly to the idea

Examples of accede in a Sentence

His son acceded upon the king's death.

finally acceded to their pleas for more time to complete the project

Recent Examples on the Web

After weeks of negotiations, the Pentagon was unable to force Anthropic to accede to terms that, in Anthropic’s telling, could involve using AI for autonomous weapons and the mass surveillance of Americans, as my colleague Ross Andersen reported over the weekend. —Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 3 Mar. 2026

Many rank-and-file OpenAI employees had signed an open letter last week supporting Anthropic’s refusal to accede to the Pentagon’s demands and opposing its decision to designate Anthropic a supply-chain risk. —Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 2 Mar. 2026

The university has acceded to student demands to restore 24-hour weekday access to Geisel Library, the heart of a school where most students are studying science, engineering, technology or medicine. —Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026

Iran was jolted by resurgent anti-government protests over the weekend, as Washington sought to build pressure on Tehran to accede to its demands ahead of new nuclear talks amid a massive American military buildup. —Chantal Da Silva, NBC news, 23 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English acceden "to come near, become adapted to," borrowed from Latin accēdere "to draw near, approach, side (with), be added (to)," from ad- ad- + cēdere "to go away, yield" — more at cede

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Phrases Containing accede

• accede to the throne

Rhymes for accede

• agreed
• airspeed
• alkyd
• bindweed
• chickweed
• concede
• decreed
• duckweed
• exceed
• flaxseed
• impede
• indeed

Kids Definition

accede

verb

ac·​cede ak-ˈsēd 

ik-

acceded; acceding

1

: to give consent : agree

accede to a proposed plan

2

formal : to enter upon an office or position

acceded to the throne in 1838

Legal Definition

accede

intransitive verb

ac·​cede ak-ˈsēd, ik- 

acceded; acceding

1

a

: to become a party (as to an agreement) by associating oneself with others

they were invited to accede to the covenant

b

: to express approval or give consent

the banker asks for collateral. The debtor…accedes, and transfers some of his property

—In re Patterson, 139 F. Supp. 830 (1956)

2

: to assume an office or position

acceded to the governorship

3

a

: to become added by way of growth, increase, improvement, or labor

the various improvements…had acceded to the realty and had become “fixtures”

—Graham v. Henderson, 608 S.W.2d 150 (1980)

b

: to come into control or ownership of something

a trustee in bankruptcy specifically accedes to all property of the debtor

—Directory Int'l, Inc. v. Bates Mfg. Co., 91 B.R. 738 (1988)