accedes

Accede is a verb with several related senses centered on agreement, joining, or taking office. In its general sense, to accede is to yield to a request or to give formal consent. More formal uses describe joining an organization or agreeing to an international treaty or protocol—one country acceding to a treaty; a government acceding to an alliance; or a party acceding to an agreement by ratification. Accede can also mean to assume a position of power or leadership, as when a monarch or president accedes to the throne or to the presidency.

Etymology and usage context: the word comes from Latin accedere, meaning “to go toward, approach, yield,” via Old French and later English adoption. The noun form is accession, referring to the act of joining or the moment of gaining power. The adjective form is unrelated in common usage.

Usage notes: accede is formal and more common in legal, diplomatic, and historical writing. In everyday language, words such as agree, consent, or yield are often used instead. Typical constructions include accede to a treaty, to a proposal, to a request, or to power or the throne. Accession as a noun is used for the event or act itself, such as the accession of a new king or the accession of a country to a treaty.

See also: accession, consent, assent, concur.