English Word Reference Free

acceptance

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

10 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

open dictionary

Access

Free

no sign-up needed

Detailed reference entry for the English word "acceptance", 10-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "acceptance" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "acceptance" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

acceptance is aEnglishnoun. It means: The act of accepting; the receiving of something offered, with acquiescence, approbation, or satisfaction; especially, favourable reception; approval. Pronounced /əkˈsɛp.təns/. It ranks #5,469 in English word frequency. Often confused with acceptable.

Key facts for acceptance
PropertyValue
Headwordacceptance
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əkˈsɛp.təns/
Letters10
Frequency rank#5,469
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of acceptance in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for acceptance is 10 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əkˈsɛp.təns/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,469 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 14 documented wrong-spelling variants for acceptance, with forms such as "accepatnce", "accepptance", and "acceptacne". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "acceptable", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti Proto-Italic *kapjō Old Latin kapiō Latin capiō Latin accipiō Latin acceptārelbor. Old Fr… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is acceptance, spelled A-C-C-E-P-T-A-N-C-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of accepting; the receiving of something offered, with acquiescence, approbation, or satisfaction; especially, favourable reception; approval.
  2. 2
    An instance of that act.
  3. 3
    Belief in something; agreement, assent.
  4. 4
    The state of being accepted.
  5. 5
    The usual or accepted meaning of a word or expression.
  6. 6
    An assent and engagement by the person on whom a bill of exchange is drawn, to pay it when due according to the terms of the acceptance; the bill of exchange itself when accepted.
  7. 7
    An agreeing to the action, proposals, or terms of another by some act which results in the conclusion of a legally binding contract; the reception or taking of a thing bought as that for which it was bought, or as that agreed to be delivered, or the taking of possession of a thing as owner.
  8. 8
    The act of an authorized representative of the government by which the government assents to ownership of existing and identified supplies, or approves specific services rendered, as partial or complete performance of a contract.
  9. 9
    A list of horses accepted as starters in a race.
  10. 10
    Synonym of etendue.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti Proto-Italic *kapjō Old Latin kapiō Latin capiō Latin accipiō Latin acceptārelbor. Old French accepterder. Middle French acceptanceder. English acceptance * First attested in 1574. From Middle French acceptance, from Old French accepter (“accept”). Equivalent to accept + -ance.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: accepatnce,accepptance,acceptacne,acceptancce,acceptanec,acceptannce,acceptence,acceptnace,accepttance,accetpance,accpetance,acecptance,aceptance,caceptance

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for acceptance

Misspelling Variants of "acceptance"

accepatnce10accepptance11acceptacne10acceptancce11acceptanec10acceptannce11acceptence10acceptnace10
Misspelling Variants of "acceptance"

Frequency rank: #5,469 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "acceptance"?
"acceptance" is spelled A-C-C-E-P-T-A-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /əkˈsɛp.təns/.
What does "acceptance" mean?
As a noun, "acceptance" means: The act of accepting; the receiving of something offered, with acquiescence, approbation, or satisfaction; especially, favourable reception; approval.
What words are commonly confused with "acceptance"?
"acceptance" is commonly confused with "acceptable". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "acceptance"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "acceptance" is /əkˈsɛp.təns/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "acceptance"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti Proto-Italic *kapjō Old Latin kapiō Latin capiō Latin accipiō Latin acceptārelb... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter A in our English index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.