Word Confusion: Access versus Accession

Plural for the noun: accesses
Gerund: accessing

Third person present verb: accesses
Past tense or past participle: accessed
Present participle: accessing

Plural for the noun: accessions
Gerund: accessioning

Third person present verb: accessions
Past tense or past participle: accessioned
Present participle: accessioning

Noun:
A means of approaching or entering a place ¹

• The right or opportunity to use or benefit from something
• The right or opportunity to approach or see someone
• The state, quality, or means of being approachable
• [Computer] The action or process of obtaining or retrieving information stored in a computer’s memory
• [As modifier] Denoting noncommercial broadcasting produced by local independent groups, rather than by professionals

An attack or onset, as of a disease

Accession

• Increase

[Literary; in singular] An attack or outburst of an emotion ²

Verb, transitive:
To approach or enter (a place) ¹

To make contact with or gain access to

Obtain, examine, or retrieve (data or a file)

• The action or process of formally joining or being accepted by an association, institution, or group
• [International law] The formal acceptance of a treaty or agreement

A new item added to an existing collection of books, paintings, or artifacts

• An amount added to an existing quantity of something

[Law] Addition to property by growth or improvement

Consent

• Agreement
• Approval

Accession to a demand

The act of coming near

• Approach

An attack or onset, as of a disease

Verb, transitive:
[Usually be accessioned] Record the addition of (a new item) to a library, museum, or other collection

To acquire (a book, painting, etc.), especially for a permanent collection

“Many schools have adapted educational access channels to enhance school curriculum” (Public).

“PBS bears little resemblance to public-access television” (Public).

Noun:
The staircase gives access to the top floor.

But do they have wheelchair access?

The bypass will greatly improve road access.

The house was difficult of access.

The building has a side access.

Do you have access to a computer?

There are awards to help people gain access to training.

We were denied access to our grandson.

This prevents unauthorized access or inadvertent deletion of the file.

The City of Jefferson has two public access channels on Charter Cable.

I was suddenly overcome with an access of rage.

“Why, in a final access of pity, had she insisted on flinging, as a last sop to that demon’s soul, her divine song” (Leroux, chapt 15).

Verb, transitive:
Single rooms have private baths accessed via the balcony.

The information can be accessed from several files and displayed at the same time.

Can we access the attic?

He used a browser to access a website.

She accessed her bank account online.

We lost the vote on the Fortas accession to the chief justiceship.

We found a list of accessions to the college library.

They oversaw the accession of Spain and Portugal into the European Community.

Signing was a formal accession to the Treaty of Paris.

He was involved in the day-to-day work of cataloguing new accessions.

But I thought that last protein had been assigned an accession number?

They did not anticipate any further accession of wealth from the man’s estate.

There will be an examination of “the exchange rate behavior of a group of four transitional, EU accession countries, with a view to making policy recommendations regarding their accession to full European Monetary Union” (MacDonald).

“Ordinary repairs to a car become accessions, and merge into the principal thing” (Accession).

“Gall observed that insane persons underwent an accession of their disorder twice in every month, at the epochs of new and full moon” (Verne).

Verb, transitive:
Each book must be accessioned and the data entered into the computer.

A curator was accessioning newly acquired paintings.

Each book in the library had been carefully accessioned.

1. First recorded in 1275–1325 as the Middle English accesse, from the Old French acces or directly from the Latin accessus meaning an approach, equivalent to acced-, a variant stem of accēdere (to accede) + -tus a suffix of the verb action.
2. Middle English in the sense sudden attack of illness from the Latin accessus, from the verb accedere meaning to approach.