acceptus

Acceptus is a Latin participial adjective formed from the verb accipere, meaning to receive. The participle can be translated as “having been received,” and functions as “accepted” or “well received.” It declines as a regular first/second declension adjective: masculine singular acceptus, feminine accepta, neuter acceptum; plural accepti, acceptae, accepta.

In classical and medieval Latin, acceptus describes something that has been received, approved, or acknowledged, and it occurs in legal, administrative, religious, and literary contexts. For example, a decree or act may be described as acceptus by authorities, or a set of things may be referred to as res acceptae, “the things that have been accepted.” The term also appears in inscriptions and official records to indicate that a decision or document has gained approval.

In scholarly Latin and textual criticism, acceptus is used to mark readings or texts that editors regard as accepted, authentic, or conforming to a standard edition. It can function as a predicate with est or modify a noun, agreeing in gender and number with the noun it describes.

In English-language scholarship, acceptus appears mainly within studies of Latin grammar, philology, and editions of Latin texts, where it conveys the sense of something that has been accepted or approved within a given authority or tradition.

See also: accipere, acceptio, acceptor, acceptation.