admission

noun

ad·​mis·​sion əd-ˈmi-shən 

ad-

plural admissions

1

: an act of admitting : the fact or state of being admitted: such as

a

: the act of allowing something for consideration before a court

A small number of jurisdictions adhere to the position that a defendant may not complain on appeal about the admission of illegally obtained evidence … if the defendant gave testimony at trial admitting possession of that evidence.

—Wayne R. LaFave and Jerold H. Israel

b

: the right or permission to join or enter a place, a group, etc.

countries denied admission to NATO

c(1)

: the act or process of accepting someone as a student at a school

To a large degree, American education is organized for those who are already the best educated, a fact notoriously borne out in the college admissions process, where colleges compete for the top students and are rated by the percentage of these they attract.

—Gerald Graff

(2)

: the fact of being accepted as a student at a school

Competition for admission to these pre-K schools is so extreme that private counselors are frequently retained … to guide the parents through the application process.

—Jonathan Kozol

(3)

: someone who is so admitted

California State University will accept no new admissions for the spring semester of 2013 … as part of a drastic cost-cutting strategy to reduce enrollment by about 16,000 students next spring, officials said Monday.

—Nanette Asimov

d

: the act or process of accepting someone into a hospital, clinic, or other treatment facility as an inpatient

The patient was unconscious upon admission to the hospital.

also : someone who is so admitted

Many new admissions are discharged after a day's examination.

—Hanna L. Schussheim

2

: a fee paid for entering a place (such as a theater or museum)

a museum that offers reduced admission for children

3

a

: the granting of an argument or position not fully proved : the act of acknowledging something asserted

b

: acknowledgment that a fact or statement is true

c

: a revealing statement

an admission of failure

admissive

əd-ˈmi-siv 

ad-

adjective

Synonyms

• confession
• insistence
• acknowledgement
• acknowledgment
• concession
• assertion

Examples of admission in a Sentence

the admission of evidence in a court of law

His statement was interpreted as an admission of failure.

They opposed the admission of women into the club.

Her injuries were serious enough to require hospital admission.

a large number of hospital admissions

The school's standards of admission are high.

He submitted an application for admission to the school.

Recent Examples on the Web

United’s executive ticket holders get their European-game admission thrown in as a bonus. —Andy Mitten, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025

Later, in a confessional, Kardashian doubles down on the admission. —Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Oct. 2025

Panera eventually retired the item, though not immediately (a legal expert posited to CNN that doing so promptly would have read as an admission of guilt, and in turn spur reputational damage). —Li Goldstein, Bon Appetit Magazine, 25 Oct. 2025

Her next picture came with a humorous admission. —Sabrina Weiss, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English admyssion, borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin admissiōn-, admissiō "controlled mating (of animals), admittance to an interview," from admittere "to admit entry 1" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of verbal action

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing admission

• by one's own admission
• general admission
• open admission
• pre-admission

Rhymes for admission

• addition
• ambition
• attrition
• audition
• clinician
• cognition
• coition
• commission
• condition
• contrition
• dentition
• dismission

Kids Definition

admission

noun

ad·​mis·​sion əd-ˈmish-ən 

ad-

1

: the act of admitting

especially : an admitting of something that has not been proved

an admission of guilt

2

: the right or permission to enter

standards of admission to a school

3

: the price of entrance

Medical Definition

admission

noun

ad·​mis·​sion əd-ˈmi-shən, ad- 

: the act or process of accepting someone into a hospital, clinic, or other treatment facility as an inpatient

The patient was unconscious upon admission to the hospital.

also : someone who is so admitted

Many new admissions are discharged after a day's examination.

—Hanna L. Schussheim, The Washington Post

Legal Definition

admission

noun

ad·​mis·​sion

1

: the act or process of admitting

admission into evidence

2

a

: a party's acknowledgment that a fact or statement is true

Note: In civil cases admissions are often agreed to and offered in writing to the court before trial as a method of reducing the number of issues to be proven at trial.

b

: a party's prior out-of-court statement or action that is inconsistent with his or her position at trial and that tends to establish guilt compare confession, declaration against interest at declaration

Note: Under the Federal Rules of Evidence an admission is not hearsay. Silence can sometimes be construed as an admission where a person would reasonably be expected to speak up.