access

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English accesse, acces, borrowed from Middle French acces (“attack, onslaught”) or from its source Latin accessus, perfect passive participle of accēdō (“approach; accede”), from ad (“to, toward, at”) + cēdō (“move, yield”). Doublet of accessus. First attested in the early 14th century. The sense "entrance" was first attested about 1380.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæksɛs/
(General American) enPR: ăkʹsĕs', IPA^(key): /ˈækˌsɛs/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -æksɛs
Hyphenation: ac‧cess

Noun

access (countable and uncountable, plural accesses)

(uncountable) A way or means of approaching or entering; an entrance; a passage.
- 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the book number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
  All access was thronged.
(uncountable) The act of approaching or entering; an advance.
(uncountable) The right or ability of approaching or entering; admittance; admission; accessibility.
(uncountable) The quality of being easy to approach or enter.
- c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene i]:
  I did repel his fetters, and denied His access to me.
- 2011 September 20, Graeme Paton, “University access plan 'will fail', says Russell Group”, in Telegraph‎:
  Coalition plans to widen access to university will fail to get to the 'root cause' of the problem, according to the Russell Group.
(uncountable) Admission to sexual intercourse.
- 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, OCLC 65350522:
  During coverture, access of the husband shall be presumed, unless the contrary be shown.
(archaic, countable) An increase by addition; accession
an access of territory
- 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the book number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
  I, from the influence of thy looks, receive access in every virtue.
(countable) An onset, attack, or fit of disease; an ague fit.
- 1724, [Gilbert] Burnet, [Gilbert Burnet Jr.], editor, Bishop Burnet’s History of His Own Time. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] Thomas Ward […], OCLC 863504080:
  The first access looked like an apoplexy.
- 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, Olympia Press:
  Then he resumed the pose, the decent pose, from which the sudden access of his old trouble had startled him, his hands on his knees, […]
(countable) An outburst of an emotion; a paroxysm; a fit of passion.
- 1917, Frank L. Packard, chapter 15, in The Adventures of Jimmie Dale:
  The Magpie's flashlight, as he shifted it from his right hand to his left and wrenched out his revolver, had fallen upon two men crouched close against the wall by the library door—and he screamed out in an access of fury. "De double cross! A plant! De bulls! You damned snitch, Larry!" screamed out the Magpie—and fired.
- 1946, Arnold J. Toynbee, A Study of History (Abridgement of Volumes I-VI by D.C. Somervell)
  It appears that, about the middle of the fourth century of the Christian Era, the Germans in the Roman service started the new practice of retaining their native names; and this change of etiquette, which seems to have been abrupt, points to a sudden access of self-confidence and self-assurance in the souls of the barbarian personnel which had previously been content to 'go Roman' without reservations.
(uncountable, law) The right of a noncustodial parent to visit their child.
(countable, computing) The process of locating data in memory.
- 2011, Victor Pankratius, ‎Ali-Reza Adl-Tabatabai, ‎Walter Tichy, Fundamentals of Multicore Software Development (page 74)
  Operations on C++ volatiles do put the compiler on notice that the object may be modified asynchronously, and hence are generally safer to use than ordinary variable accesses.
(uncountable, networking) Connection to or communication with a computer program or to the Internet.
(uncountable, Scotland) Complicity or assent.

Usage notes

(outburst, paroxysm): sometimes confused with excess.

Derived terms

access code
access control
access course
access day
access journalism
access method
access modifier
access point
access road
access specifier
access time
access token
access violation
anti-access area denial
controlled-access highway
data access object
direct access
e-access
limited-access highway
online public access catalog
public access
random access
read-only access
remote access

Related terms

accede
accessary
accessibility
accessible
accessibly
accession
accessory

Translations

way or means of approaching

Arabic: معبر‎ m (maʿbar), منفذ‎ (ar) m (manfaḏ)
Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Belarusian: до́ступ m (dóstup)
Bulgarian: достъп (bg) m (dostǎp)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 通路 (zh) (tōnglù)
Czech: přístup (cs) m
Danish: indgang (da) c, passage (da) c, vej (da) c
Dutch: toegang (nl), toegangsweg (nl), passage (nl)
Esperanto: aliro (eo)
Estonian: pääs
Finnish: pääsy (fi)
French: accès (fr) m
Galician: acceso m
German: Zugang (de) m, Eingang (de) m
Greek: πρόσβαση (el) f (prósvasi)
Hebrew: גישה‎ (he) (gisha)
Hungarian: belépés (hu)
Italian: accesso (it) m
Khmer: please add this translation if you can
Latin: aditus (la) m
Latvian: piekļuve
Macedonian: достап (dostap), пристап (pristap)
Malayalam: പ്രവേശനം (ml) (pravēśanaṃ)
Maltese: aċċess
Old English: tōgang m, ingang m
Polish: dostęp (pl) m inan
Portuguese: acesso (pt) m
Romanian: acces (ro) n
Russian: до́ступ (ru) m (dóstup)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: приступ m, при́лаз m, у̀лаз m
Roman: pristup (sh) m, prílaz (sh) m, ùlaz (sh) m
Slovak: prístup m
Slovene: dostop m
Somali: marin
Spanish: acceso (es) m
Swedish: ingång (sv) c, passage (sv) c, väg (sv) c
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Ukrainian: до́ступ m (dóstup)

act of approaching or entering

Arabic: دخول‎ m (duḵūl), ولوج‎ m (wulūj)
Belarusian: падхо́д m (padxód)
Bulgarian: достъп (bg) m (dostǎp), подход (bg) (podhod)
Czech: přístup (cs) m
Dutch: benadering (nl)
Estonian: pääs
Finnish: pääsy (fi), lähestyminen (fi)
French: approche (fr) f (act of approaching), entrée (fr) f (act of entering), accès (fr)
German: Zugang (de) m
Greek: πρόσβαση (el) f (prósvasi)
Italian: accesso (it) m
Malayalam: പ്രവേശനം (ml) (pravēśanaṃ)
Maltese: aċċess
Old English: tōgang m
Polish: dostęp (pl) m inan
Portuguese: acesso (pt) m
Romanian: apropiere (ro) f, acces (ro) n
Russian: подхо́д (ru) m (podxód)
Slovene: pristop m
Swedish: åtkomst (sv) c
Ukrainian: підхі́д m (pidxíd)

right or ability of approaching or entering

Arabic: حق ولوج‎ m (ḥaq wulūj)
Bulgarian: достъп (bg) (dostǎp)
Czech: přístup (cs) m
Dutch: toegang (nl), toegangsrecht, toelating (nl)
Estonian: pääs
Finnish: pääsy (fi)
German: Zugang (de) m, Zutritt (de) m
Greek: ελευθεροκοινωνία (el) f (eleftherokoinonía)
Hungarian: hozzáférés (hu), bejárás (hu)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: adgang (no) m, tilgang m
Nynorsk: åtgang m, tilgang m
Old English: tōgang m
Polish: dostęp (pl) m inan, akces (pl), akcesja (pl) f
Portuguese: acesso (pt) m
Romanian: acces (ro) m or n
Slovene: dostop m
Swedish: tillgång (sv) c, tillträde (sv) c

admission to sexual intercourse

Dutch: instemming (nl)
Swedish: tillgänglighet (sv) c

increase by addition

Dutch: toevoeging (nl), aanwinst (nl)
Finnish: laajennus (fi)

onset, attack or fit of disease

Bulgarian: пристъп (bg) (pristǎp)
Dutch: toeval (nl), aanval (nl)
Finnish: kohtaus (fi)
French: accès (fr) m
Greek: παροξυσμός (el) m (paroxysmós), ξέσπασμα (el) n (xéspasma), έκρηξη (el) f (ékrixi)
Latvian: lēkme f
Norwegian: anfall (no) n
Portuguese: acesso (pt) m
Swedish: anfall (sv) n, utbrott (sv) n

outburst of an emotion

Dutch: aanval (nl), uitval (nl)
Finnish: kohtaus (fi)
French: accès (fr) m
German: Ausbruch (de) m, Gefühlsausbruch (de) m, Anfall (de) m
Greek: παροξυσμός (el) m (paroxysmós), ξέσπασμα (el) n (xéspasma), έκρηξη (el) f (ékrixi)
Norwegian: anfall (no) n, utbrudd (no) n
Portuguese: acesso (pt) m
Swedish: anfall (sv) n, utbrott (sv) n

right to visit one's child

Danish: samværdsret n
Dutch: bezoekrecht (nl) n
Finnish: tapaamisoikeus
German: Umgangsrecht n
Hungarian: láthatás
Norwegian: besøksrett m
Swedish: umgängesrätt (sv) c

computing: process of locating data in memory

Chinese:
Mandarin: 存取 (zh) (cúnqǔ)
Esperanto: atingo
Finnish: haku (fi)
French: accès (fr) m
Georgian: წვდომა (c̣vdoma)
German: Zugriff (de) m
Greek: πρόσβαση (el) f (prósvasi), προσπέλαση (el) f (prospélasi)
Japanese: アクセス (ja) (akusesu)
Norwegian: aksess (no) m
Polish: dostęp (pl) m inan
Portuguese: acesso (pt) m
Russian: до́ступ (ru) m (dóstup)
Spanish: acceso (es) m

communication with a computer program or the Internet

Finnish: yhteys (fi)
French: accès (fr)
Georgian: წვდომა (c̣vdoma)
German: Zugriff (de) m
Greek: πρόσβαση (el) f (prósvasi), προσπέλαση (el) f (prospélasi)
Italian: accesso (it)
Japanese: アクセス (ja) (akusesu)
Norwegian: aksess (no) m, tilgang m
Polish: dostęp (pl) m inan
Portuguese: acesso (pt) m
Slovene: dostop m
Spanish: acceso (es) m
Turkish: erişim (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} akses (id)
Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} accesso
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ^{(please verify)} adgang (no) m, tilgang m
Nynorsk: ^{(please verify)} åtgang m, tilgang m
Welsh: ^{(please verify)} dyfodiad m

Etymology 2

First attested in 1962.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæksɛs/, /əkˈsɛs/
(General American) enPR: ăkʹsĕs', ək-sĕsʹ, IPA^(key): /ˈækˌsɛs/, /əkˈsɛs/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -æksɛs, -ɛs
Hyphenation: ac‧cess

Verb

access (third-person singular simple present accesses, present participle accessing, simple past and past participle accessed)

(transitive) To gain or obtain access to.
(transitive, computing) To have access to (data).
I can't access most of the data on the computer without a password.

Derived terms

⇒ Brazilian Portuguese: acessar

Translations

to gain or obtain access to

Arabic: وَلَجَ‎ (walaja), ذلف‎ (ḏalafa), نفذ‎ (nafaḏa), عبر‎ (ar) (ʿabara)
Catalan: accedir (ca)
Dutch: toegang hebben (tot), bereiken (nl), verkrijgen (nl)
Finnish: päästä (fi)
French: accéder (fr), avoir accès (fr)
Galician: acceder
Norwegian: få tilgang
Occitan: accedir (oc)
Portuguese: aceder (pt), acessar (pt) (Brazil)
Slovene: dostopati
Spanish: acceder (es)
Swedish: göra åtkomlig, ta fram (sv)

computing: to have access to (data)

Armenian: մատչել (hy) (matčʿel)
Dutch: toegang hebben (tot)
Finnish: päästä käsiksi
French: accéder (fr), avoir accès (fr)
German: Zugang haben, zugreifen (de)
Hungarian: hozzáfér (hu)
Norwegian: aksessere
Portuguese: aceder (pt), acessar (pt) (Brazil)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: присту́пити pf
Roman: pristúpiti (sh) pf
Slovene: dostopati
Spanish: acceder (es), accesar (es)
Swedish: ha åtkomst

References

access in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
access in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
access at OneLook Dictionary Search
access in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
“access, n.” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.