Conceding

How to spell conceding

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce conceding

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does conceding mean?

1. verbAdmitting that something is true or that an opponent has won, or granting something reluctantly.

Conceding in a sentence

• After losing the vote, the candidate spoke graciously while conceding defeat.

• The lawyer kept conceding minor points while defending the central claim.

Where does conceding come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb concedere, meaning 'to give way, yield, or grant', which was formed from the prefix con- (here acting as an intensifier meaning 'fully') and cedere, the verb 'to go' or 'to withdraw'. The literal sense was therefore something like 'to step back completely', and from that grew the modern ideas of yielding ground, admitting that an opponent is right, and granting a request. English took the verb in during the 1400s and 1500s, partly through Old French conceder, and added its native -ing ending to form the participle. The same Latin cedere sits at the heart of a whole family of English words such as recede, proceed, and secede, all of which carry that core idea of going or moving. Because the stressed middle syllable is spelled with 'ce', writers who trust their ear sometimes reach for an 's', so remembering the cede root helps lock the spelling in place.

How the word is built

• con- (fully, together)
• ced (to go, yield, from Latin cedere)
• -ing (present participle suffix)