acceptance|ækˈsɛptəns|[a.OFr.acceptance,f.accepter; see accept and -ance.]1. a.The act or fact of accepting, or taking what is offered, whether as a pleasure, a satisfaction of claim, or a duty.1596SpenserState ofIrel.(J.)By the acceptance of his sovereignty, they also accepted of his laws.
1607Shakes.Cor.ii. iii. 9If he tel vs his Noble deeds, we must also tell him our Noble acceptance of them.
1667MiltonP.L. v. 531Our voluntarie service he requires, Not our necessitated, such with him Findes no acceptance.
a1764R. LloydThe PoetWks.1774 II. 21The mob his kind acceptance begs Of dirt, and stones, and addle-eggs.
1876FreemanNorm.Conq. II.App.531William or his advisers may..have pressed the acceptance of the crown on Eadward.
b.The accepting of copulation by a female animal.1925F. A. E. CrewAnimal Genetics x. 297The sexual season is divided into..proœstrum..œstrum, the phase of desire and acceptance of the male.
2.esp.Favourable reception.a.Of persons.1596Shakes.Merch.V. iv. i. 164,I neuer knewe so yong a body, with so old a head. I leaue him to your gracious acceptance.
1611Cotgr.,Malgrace..bad acceptance, ill opinion.
1814SoutheyRoderick vii.Wks.IX. 71That vow hath been pronounced..whereby we stand For condemnation or acceptance.
1882DailyTel.Mar. 9The vocalist..sang with marked acceptance.
b.Of things: Favourable consideration, approval; and hence, of statements, theories, etc.: Mental assent, belief.1669PepysDiary (1877) V. 452It did meet with the Duke of York's acceptance & well-liking.
1779NewtonBk.of Praise (Gold. Tr.Ser.) 52By Thee my prayers acceptance gain Although with sin defiled.
1794SullivanView ofNat.II. 230Recommend them to the belief and acceptance of all reasonable persons.
1854FaradayExp.Res.lv. 470The assertion finds acceptance in every rank of society.
1880Carpenter in19thCent.No.38. 602The probability of their volcanic origin seems so strong as to justify its full acceptance.
c.acceptance of persons: undue favour on personal grounds, partiality. See accept 2, acception 2.1855MacaulayHist.Eng.IV. 580A Sovereign who had sworn that he..would do justice, without acceptance of persons.
3.The state or condition of being accepted.1649SeldenLaws ofEng.(1739) i. v. 12She first brought Austin into acceptance with the King.
1714T. EllwoodLife (1765) 72,I found acceptance with the Lord.
1745WesleyAnsw.to Church 17Can we deny, That Holiness is a Condition of Final Acceptance?
4.The sense in which a word or expression is accepted or taken; understood signification. rare. (More usually acceptation 4.)a1716South (J.)An assertion, most certainly true, though, under the common acceptance of it, not only false but odious.
1857S. OsbornQuedah xvii. 237Neither Jadee nor I were sportsmen in the proper acceptance of the word.
5.The quality of being accepted or acceptable; acceptableness, agreeableness.1593MarloweDido iii. iii. 926Love and duty led him on perhaps To press beyond acceptance to your sight.
1666SouthSerm.Tit.ii. 15Wks.1715 I. 197Some Men cannot be Fools with so good Acceptance as others.
1868BrowningRing &Bk.837The Canon! We caress him..A man of such acceptance.
6.Comm.(See accept v. 5.)a.The act of formally accepting the liability to pay a bill of exchange when due; the formal engagement to pay it. Also attrib., as acceptance bank, acceptance credit, acceptance house.Cf.acceptingvbl.n.2.b.The bill itself when ‘accepted’ by A.B. is termed A.B.'s acceptance.1682J. ScarlettStile ofExch.59Acceptance must be demanded of him only, to whom the Bill is directed.
1865TraffordG. Geith II. ii. 30There is scarcely a business man..the aim and object of whose life is not to get his acceptances into circulation.
1866CrumpBanking v. 117Acceptance..signifies an engagement on the part of the drawee to meet the bill in money when it falls due.
1923Crowell'sDict.Bus. & Finance,Acceptance Bank.
1927G. G. MunnEncycl.Bank. & Finance,Acceptance Houses.
1948G. CrowtherOutl.Money (ed.2) ii. 70Usually..the merchant agrees with one of the London banks..to ‘accept’ the bill for him, and the presence on the bill of the name of a bank or of an ‘acceptance house’ immediately makes the bill a ‘prime’ bill.
1958Spectator 6 June 720/1Fresh information about the sterling balances, and about acceptance credits, an important method by which international trade is financed in the City of London.
c.acceptance world: used by A. Powell in the ordinary Comm.sense and also transf., of life ‘accepted’ as a debt which must eventually be repaid.1955A. Powell (title)The Acceptance World.
7.Law. An agreeing to the act or contract of another (as a predecessor in office or agent) by some act which amounts to a recognition or approval of the same, and binds the person in law.1574tr.Littleton's Tenures 99 b,A man shal have none advantage by suche release that shalbe againste his owne propre acceptance.
1691BlountLawDict.s.v.Acceptance is..a tacite kind of agreeing to some former Act done by another, which might have been undone or avoided.
8.The paper or card on which an invitation is accepted.1873J. H. BeadleUndevel. West xviii. 342The ‘nervous-hystericky Italian hand’ resumed its beautiful regularity on pink-tinted ‘acceptances’.
1957R. CarringtonMermaids & Mastodons ix. 136Twenty-one acceptances were received and..the guests arrived at the appointed hour.
9.Racing. A horse accepted for a race (freq.in pl.).1923Daily Mail 1 Feb. 9/1The acceptances..are satisfactory for the ‘Lincoln’.
1928Ibid.25 July 14/5,I expect to find him among the acceptances for the Chesterfield Cup at Goodwood.
1946F. SargesonThat Summer 69,I wrapped it in a sheet of newspaper I was keeping because of the acceptances.
10.SpecialComb.acceptance trials, the trial or trials which a new ship, etc., undergoes before being accepted into service;cf.trial-trips.v.trialn.1 13.1958Weekly LawRep.28 Nov. 1127Upon completion of the craft, the builders will notify the buyer in writing that the craft is ready for *acceptance trials to be run.
1971DailyTel.18 Feb. 2/3Formal acceptance trials with the 1906A will begin on Monday. The computer is due to be in full operation by the end of next month.
1976Islander (Victoria,B.C.) 7 Mar. 6/2She was launched Oct. 6..and her acceptance trials were held on May 11.
1978R. V. JonesMost Secret War v. 45Occasionally, I had something practical to do such as the acceptance trials of the first airborne television equipment for the R.A.F.
