admittance

n. 1. The act of admitting. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Permission to enter; the power or right of entrance; also, actual entrance; reception. [ 1913 Webster ]

To gain admittance into the house. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

He desires admittance to the king. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

To give admittance to a thought of fear. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Concession; admission; allowance; as, the admittance of an argument. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Admissibility. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Eng. Law) The act of giving possession of a copyhold estate. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]