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
Célia Belin, Foreign Affairs, 5 Apr. 2024
Bosnia-Herzegovina is among six nations from the region — the others are Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia — who are at different stages of the EU accession process following a period of wars and crises in the 1990s.
—Samuel Petrequin, Quartz, 12 Mar. 2024
Hungary’s parliament eventually approved Sweden’s accession last month.
—Christian Edwards, CNN, 7 Mar. 2024
In a sign of disapproval of Finland’s accession to NATO, Russia last year deployed vessels capable of carrying Kalibr cruise missiles on Lake Ladoga, a body of water in the Karelia region near Finland’s southeast border.
—Milda Seputyte, Bloomberg.com, 7 Mar. 2024
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth in September 2022, King Charles used his first speech as sovereign to pronounce his eldest son as the Prince of Wales, conferring the traditionally given to the male heir to the British throne (and which King Charles held until his accession).
—Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 1 Mar. 2024
Turkey's approval follows Finland's accession to the alliance last April, becoming NATO's 31st member, after Turkey's parliament ratified the Nordic country's bid.
—Bradford Betz, Fox News, 23 Jan. 2024
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
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
In 2019, France vetoed EU accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia, on the grounds that the EU accession mechanism needed to be reformed.
—Célia Belin, Foreign Affairs, 5 Apr. 2024
Bosnia-Herzegovina is among six nations from the region — the others are Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia — who are at different stages of the EU accession process following a period of wars and crises in the 1990s.
—Samuel Petrequin, Quartz, 12 Mar. 2024
Hungary’s parliament eventually approved Sweden’s accession last month.
—Christian Edwards, CNN, 7 Mar. 2024
In a sign of disapproval of Finland’s accession to NATO, Russia last year deployed vessels capable of carrying Kalibr cruise missiles on Lake Ladoga, a body of water in the Karelia region near Finland’s southeast border.
—Milda Seputyte, Bloomberg.com, 7 Mar. 2024
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth in September 2022, King Charles used his first speech as sovereign to pronounce his eldest son as the Prince of Wales, conferring the traditionally given to the male heir to the British throne (and which King Charles held until his accession).
—Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 1 Mar. 2024
Turkey's approval follows Finland's accession to the alliance last April, becoming NATO's 31st member, after Turkey's parliament ratified the Nordic country's bid.
—Bradford Betz, Fox News, 23 Jan. 2024
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
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 26 Apr. 2024.
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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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