v. [a. F. concéde-r (16th c. in Littré), or ad. L. concēd-ĕre to withdraw, give way, yield, grant, etc., f. con- altogether + cédĕre to go away, give way, yield: see CEDE.]
1. trans. To admit, allow, grant (a proposition), to acknowledge the truth, justice, or propriety of (a statement, claim, etc.); sometimes in weaker sense, To allow formally for the sake of argument.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., V. ix. 247. If (as Macrobius and very good Authors concede) Bacchus … be the same Deity with the Sunne.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, XV. i. If by virtue these writers mean the exercise, etc. … I shall very readily concede the point.
1836. J. Gilbert, Chr. Atonem., vii. (1852), 195. The law itself was not conceded to have been unjust.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., I. viii. Conceding, for a moment, that there is any analogy between a bee and a man.
1883. Manch. Guardian, 17 Oct., 5/4. The claim of the negro to be exactly a brother … seems not yet to be finally conceded.
2. To grant, yield, or surrender (anything asked or claimed, e.g., a right, a privilege).
1632. Hayward, trans. Biondi’s Eromena, 81. Concede me I pray you this small digression. Ibid., 101. Vouchsafe to concede me onely the first attribute in your esteeme, and that shall content me.
1805. Southey, Madoc in W., VIII. What wouldest thou That to these Hoamen I should now concede?
1841. Miss Mitford, in L’Estrange, Life, III. viii. 123. The money … was conceded.
1858. Buckle, Civiliz. (1873), II. viii. 558. Free trade was conceded to the West Indian Islands.
1883. Manch. Exam., 24 Oct., 4/6. Any advance of wages at present is not warranted … and cannot be conceded.
3. intr. or absol. To make a concession.
1780. Burke, Sp. Bristol, Wks. III. 371. When … I wished you to concede to America, at a time when she prayed concession at our feet.
1799. Beddoes, Contrib. Phys. Knowl., Introd. 25. By conceding equally to opinions, of which none can have any solid title to preference.
Hence Conceded ppl. a., Concededly adv., admittedly, Conceding vbl. sb. and ppl. a.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., V. xx. 263. From conceded mistakes they authentically promoted errors.
1684. Willard, Mercy magn., 10. The father’s conceding act.
1757. Herald, No. 16. A conceding of more than his subject … required of him.
1854. Ronalds & Richardson, Chem. Technol. (ed. 2), I. 41. Conceded lands.
1882. N. York Tribune, 22 March. The present Executive Mansion … is concededly not what it ought to be.
