cede

verb

ˈsēd 

ceded; ceding

transitive verb

1

: to yield or grant typically by treaty

Russia ceded Alaska to the U.S. in 1867.

2

: assign, transfer

ceded his stock holdings to his children

ceder noun

Did you know?

Do you cede or seed control?

Cede means "to yield or grant typically by treaty." Most of the verb senses of seed are concerned with planting seeds (either literal, as of plants, or figuratively, as of ideas). However, the word may also be used to mean "to schedule (tournament players or teams) so that superior ones will not meet in early rounds." If you relinquish or yield something you are ceding it, and if you are organizing the participants in a tournament you are seeding them.

Did you know?

Cede is often a formal term used in discussing territory and rights, but is also used less formally. So, for example, Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the U.S. in 1898, following the Spanish-American War, and the U.S. ceded control of the Panama Canal to Panama in 1999. Critics warn that we are ceding leadership in alternative-energy technology to China. Citizens of one European country or another are always worrying that their own country is ceding too much power to the European Union. A tennis player doesn't have any choice when she cedes her no. 1 ranking to a rival.

Synonyms

• relinquish
• surrender
• render

Examples of cede in a Sentence

Russia ceded Alaska to the U.S. in 1867.

she reluctantly ceded her position as leader

Recent Examples on the Web

Zelenskyy has said Kyiv will not cede any territory to Russia, will not abandon its NATO ambitions and will not allow any limitations on its armed forces. —David Brennan, ABC News, 12 Aug. 2025

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded by saying his country won’t cede that territory, and changing his position would require a massive amount of U.S. pressure on Ukraine, in essence making the U.S. a proxy for Russia. —Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 11 Aug. 2025

Kyiv and its European allies have reacted with understandable horror at the early ideas of Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, that Ukraine cede the remainders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in exchange for a ceasefire. —Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 9 Aug. 2025

In 2005, Israel had uprooted about 8,000 settlers from Gaza, ceding the territory to Palestinian control. —Yair Rosenberg, The Atlantic, 7 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French or Latin; French céder, borrowed from Latin cēdere "to go, move away, withdraw, yield," perhaps, if derived from an originally transitive meaning "drive away," akin to Sanskrit sedhati "(she/he) chases away," Avestan siiazdat "will chase away"

First Known Use

1743, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for cede

• bead
• bleed
• brede
• breed
• creed
• deed
• feed
• freed
• greed
• heed
• keyed
• knead

Kids Definition

cede

verb

ˈsēd 

ceded; ceding

: to give up especially by treaty

Russia ceded Alaska to the U.S. in 1867

Legal Definition

cede

transitive verb

ˈsēd 

ceded; ceding

1

: to yield or grant usually by treaty

2

: assign, transfer

3

: to transfer (all or part of one's liability as an insurer under an insurance policy) by reinsurance to another insurer