admit

verb ad·mit \ əd-ˈmit , ad- \

Updated on: 6 Apr 2018

Definition of admit

admitted; admitting

transitive verb

1 a : to allow scope for : permit

admits no possibility of misunderstanding

b : to concede as true or valid

admitted making a mistake

2 a : to allow entry (as to a place, fellowship, or privilege)

an open window had admitted rain

admitted to the club

b : to accept into a hospital as an inpatient

he was admitted last night for chest pains

intransitive verb

1 : to give entrance or access

2 a : allow, permit

admits of two interpretations

b : to make acknowledgment —used with to

admitted to having doubts

See admit defined for English-language learners

See admit defined for kids

Examples of admit in a Sentence

You know you're wrong! Admit it!
I hate to admit it, but he's right.
This ticket admits one person.
He admitted them into his office.
They refused to admit her to the club.
The patient was very sick when she was admitted to the hospital.
He was admitted last night for chest pains.
The judge decided to admit the evidence.

Recent Examples of admit from the Web

Nancy Caraballo entered the plea Monday, admitting to charges that accused them of running a bribery scheme that saw Caraballo withhold reports of child neglect or abuse in exchange for some of Rodriguez's food stamps.

— cory shaffer, cleveland.com, "Cleveland mother, social services worker plead guilty to food-stamp fraud scheme," 2 Apr. 2018
One of the women admitted to a consensual relationship with Granville but would provide police with only her middle name, not her full name.

— anne ryman, azcentral, "Tempe releases records of police investigation into Kolby Granville allegations," 2 Apr. 2018
Howard, of the 3900 block of West Chicago Avenue, was arrested Thursday, and admitted to slapping the baby and forcefully holding him up against a wall, prosecutors said.

— nereida moreno, chicagotribune.com, "East Garfield Park man charged with beating 4-month-old son," 1 Apr. 2018
Oaks did not plead guilty to all of those charges Thursday, but admitted in court to the broader statement of facts, including the obstruction allegations.

— scott dance, baltimoresun.com, "Former Sen. Oaks appears at Baltimore delegation meeting — a day after resignation and guilty plea," 30 Mar. 2018
Police said Anderson admitted to the crimes, which spanned the last seven years during his time as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

— fernando ramirez, Houston Chronicle, "Dallas-area church instructor admits to sexually assaulting young children, cops say," 29 Mar. 2018
Several conservative outlets falsely suggested that Gonzalez admitted to bullying the Parkland shooter.

— german lopez, Vox, "Conservative attacks on March for Our Lives leaders are getting very personal," 29 Mar. 2018
Cohen has since denied Daniels’ allegations, but admitted to making the payment.

— nick vadala, Philly.com, "Stormy Daniels to visit Philly for performances at Club Risque this fall," 27 Mar. 2018
Prosecutor David Lasee: The man that met this woman in a bar, and admitted by his own account to dumping her body in that field, looks like this the next day [shows photos of Burch fishing].

— erin moriarty, CBS News, "The Fitbit Alibi: 21st century technology used to help solve Wisconsin mom's murder," 24 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'admit.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of admit

Middle English admitten, borrowed from Anglo-French admitter, admetter, admettre, borrowed from Latin admittere "to allow entrance or approach," from ad- ad- + mittere "to release, let go, discharge, let fly, throw down, send (for a purpose)," perhaps going back to Indo-European *mei̯th₂- "alternate, exchange, remove" (assuming sense shift "exchange" > "give, bestow" > "let go, send"), from whence, with varying ablaut grades, Sanskrit méthati "treats hostilely, abuses," mitháḥ "mutually, alternately," míthū "in opposed directions, wrongly," Avestan mōiθat̰ "will deprive," hǝ̄m.aibī.mōist "(s/he) joins," West Germanic *meiþ-a- "conceal, avoid" (presumably "remove" > "remove oneself"), whence Old English mīðan "to conceal, dissemble," Old Saxon miđan, Old High German mīdan "to avoid, shy away from, conceal"

Note: See also forms at etymology of mutable descending from a causative derivative *moi̯th2-. The short vowel and geminate consonant in mittere is usually explained as an instance of the "littera-rule" (or "Iuppiter-rule"), whereby certain pre-Latin diphthongs are resolved as either long vowel + single consonant or short vowel + geminate consonant; however, in most such cases examples of both alternates are attested, though in this instance no attestation of mīt- is known.

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

admit Synonyms

Phrases

come clean (about);

Synonym Discussion of admit

acknowledge, admit, own, avow, confess mean to disclose against one's will or inclination. acknowledge implies the disclosing of something that has been or might be concealed.

- acknowledged an earlier peccadillo

admit implies reluctance to disclose, grant, or concede and refers usually to facts rather than their implications.

- admitted the project was over budget

own implies acknowledging something in close relation to oneself.

- must own I know little about computers

avow implies boldly declaring, often in the face of hostility, what one might be expected to be silent about.

- avowed that he was a revolutionary

confess may apply to an admission of a weakness, failure, omission, or guilt.

- confessed a weakness for sweets

admit

noun

Definition of admit

: a person who is admitted into a school, hospital, etc.

When a patient is transferred, the nurse will take the next new admit—unless her patient is transferred to a hospital for only a temporary stay.
—Sally Seaver