Part 101

Ad*mis"sion (&?;), n. [L. admissio: cf. F. admission. See Admit.] 1. The act or practice of admitting.

2. Power or permission to enter; admittance; entrance; access; power to approach.

What numbers groan for sad admission there! Young.

3. The granting of an argument or position not fully proved; the act of acknowledging something &?;serted; acknowledgment; concession.

The too easy admission of doctrines. Macaulay.

4. (Law) Acquiescence or concurrence in a statement made by another, and distinguishable from a confession in that an admission presupposes prior inquiry by another, but a confession may be made without such inquiry.

5. A fact, point, or statement admitted; as, admission made out of court are received in evidence.

6. (Eng. Eccl. Law) Declaration of the bishop that he approves of the presentee as a fit person to serve the cure of the church to which he is presented. Shipley.

Syn. -- Admittance; concession; acknowledgment; concurrence; allowance. See Admittance.

Ad*mis"sive (&?;), a. Implying an admission; tending to admit. [R.] Lamb.

Ad*mis"so*ry (&?;), a. Pertaining to admission.

Ad*mit" (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Admitted; p. pr. & vb. n. Admitting.] [OE. amitten, L. admittere, admissum; ad + mittere to send: cf. F. admettre, OF. admettre, OF. ametre. See Missile.] 1. To suffer to enter; to grant entrance, whether into a place, or into the mind, or consideration; to receive; to take; as, they were into his house; to admit a serious thought into the mind; to admit evidence in the trial of a cause.

2. To give a right of entrance; as, a ticket admits one into a playhouse.

3. To allow (one) to enter on an office or to enjoy a privilege; to recognize as qualified for a franchise; as, to admit an attorney to practice law; the prisoner was admitted to bail.

4. To concede as true; to acknowledge or assent to, as an allegation which it is impossible to deny; to own or confess; as, the argument or fact is admitted; he admitted his guilt.

5. To be capable of; to permit; as, the words do not admit such a construction. In this sense, of may be used after the verb, or may be omitted.

Both Houses declared that they could admit of no treaty with the king. Hume.

Ad*mit"ta*ble (&?;), a. Admissible. Sir T. Browne.

Ad*mit"tance (&?;), n. 1. The act of admitting.

2. Permission to enter; the power or right of entrance; also, actual entrance; reception.

To gain admittance into the house. South.

He desires admittance to the king. Dryden.

To give admittance to a thought of fear. Shak.

3. Concession; admission; allowance; as, the admittance of an argument. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

4. Admissibility. [Obs.] Shak.

5. (Eng. Law) The act of giving possession of a copyhold estate. Bouvier.

Syn. -- Admission; access; entrance; initiation. -- Admittance, Admission. These words are, to some extent, in a state of transition and change. Admittance is now chiefly confined to its primary sense of access into some locality or building. Thus we see on the doors of factories, shops, etc. "No admittance." Its secondary or moral sense, as "admittance to the church," is almost entirely laid aside. Admission has taken to itself the secondary or figurative senses; as, admission to the rights of citizenship; admission to the church; the admissions made by one of the parties in a dispute. And even when used in its primary sense, it is not identical with admittance. Thus, we speak of admission into a country, territory, and other larger localities, etc., where admittance could not be used. So, when we speak of admission to a concert or other public assembly, the meaning is not perhaps exactly that of admittance, viz., access within the walls of the building, but rather a reception into the audience, or access to the performances. But the lines of distinction on this subject are one definitely drawn.

||Ad`mit*ta"tur (&?;), n. [L., let him be admitted.] The certificate of admission given in some American colleges.