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

• cough up
• deliver
• give up
• hand over
• lay down
• relinquish
• render
• surrender
• turn in
• turn over
• yield

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

That’s because the SLAM academy is legally a public school, though run privately, which clears the way for the city to cede property to it. —Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 26 June 2025

Four months after fans of the James Bond franchise decried the deal struck between Amazon MGM with producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson to cede creative control of the 007 franchise, hope has arrived in the form of famed director Denis Villeneuve. —Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 25 June 2025

McLeod added that people shouldn’t cede control to technology creators, pointing to social media as an example of the harm that can be caused when tech companies develop products unchecked. —Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 24 June 2025

Prior administrations allowed this framework to take hold by ceding policymaking authority to the courts. —Dan Eberhart, Forbes.com, 22 June 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