deaccession

verb

de·​ac·​ces·​sion ˌdē-ik-ˈse-shən How to pronounce deaccession (audio)
-ak-
deaccessioned; deaccessioning; deaccessions

transitive verb

: to sell or otherwise dispose of (an item in a collection)
the museum deaccessioned several paintings
deaccession noun

Examples of deaccession in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
On May 7, the Nashville Metropolitan Council passed an ordinance that allowed the Parthenon Museum to deaccession the collection of pre-Columbian artifacts and enable their repatriation to Mexico. Karen K. Ho, ARTnews.com, 24 July 2024 The relic, like many others that the museum has deaccessioned over the years, no longer appears on its website. Sam Tabachnik, The Denver Post, 10 June 2024 Annually, the Met typically deaccessions around $10 million worth of art. Angelica Villa For Artnews, Robb Report, 21 Sep. 2021 In 2011, it was deaccessioned—or permanently removed from the collection—and sold to an anonymous collector in a private sale through Christie’s, with proceeds going to fund preservation of other items in the hall’s collection, said spokesperson Rich Desrosiers. Jocelyn Noveck, Fortune, 28 Apr. 2023 The Education Gallery is featuring a display curated by Canning on deaccessioning art, with an explanation of what the process is and examples from the Brauer’s collection of pieces that the museum can and cannot divest from. Amy Lavalley, Chicago Tribune, 14 Apr. 2023 The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art deaccessioned a painting by Mark Rothko gifted to the museum by Peggy Guggenheim and used the proceeds to make the collections more diverse. Carolina A. Miranda, latimes.com, 29 June 2019 One area of concern could be whether the university is violating the intents of any donors or funders by selling the 46 works of art deaccessioned by the museum and consigned to Christie’s. Stephan Salisbury, Philly.com, 16 Mar. 2018 The book covers came from the library of the African American Studies department at the University of California, Berkeley, which was deaccessioning obsolete items. Roberta Smith, Holland Cotter and Martha Schwendener, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1972, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of deaccession was in 1972

Dictionary Entries Near deaccession

Cite this Entry

“Deaccession.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deaccession. Accessed 7 Dec. 2024.

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