different between bestow vs admit

English

Etymology

From Middle English bestowen, bistowen; equivalent to be- (“on, over, about”) +? stow (“to put something away”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /b??sto?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /b??st??/
• Rhymes: -??
• Hyphenation: be?stow

Verb

bestow (third-person singular simple present bestows, present participle bestowing, simple past and past participle bestowed)

1. (transitive) To lay up in store; deposit for safe keeping; to stow or place; to put something somewhere.
   • 1611, King James Bible, Luke 12:17:

     And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits.

   • 1977, J.R.R. Tolkien, Of the Rings of Power, HarperCollins, page 358:

     Of the Three Rings that the Elves had preserved unsullied no open word was ever spoken among the Wise, and few even of the Eldar knew where they were bestowed.

2. (transitive) To lodge, or find quarters for; provide with accommodation.
3. (transitive) To dispose of.
   • 1615-17, Thomas Middleton et al., The Widow, in The Ancient British drama, edited by Robert Dodsley, Sir Walter Scott, published 1810:

     Here are blank warrants of all dispositions; give me but the name and nature of your malefactor, and I'll bestow him according to his merits.
4. (transitive) To give; confer; impart gratuitously; present something to someone or something, especially as a gift or honour.

   Medals were bestowed on the winning team.

   • 1831, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

     Soft tears again bedewed my cheeks, and I even raised my humid eyes with thankfulness towards the blessed sun which bestowed such joy upon me.

   • 2008, Illiad, Userfriendly.org, “The Large Hadron Collider Game”

     CERN bestows slush fund on the LHC. Take all pennies from the CERN space.

5. (transitive) To give in marriage.
   • 1590-92, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, Act 1, Scene 1, lines 50-51:

     That is not to bestow my youngest daughter/ before I have a husband for the elder.
6. (transitive) To apply; make use of; use; employ.
   • 1887, John Marston, Arthur Henry Bullen, The Works of John Marston:

     [...] I determine to bestow Some time in learning languages abroad; [...]

7. (transitive, obsolete) To behave or deport.

Derived terms

• bestowable
• bestowage
• bestowal
• bestower
• bestowment

Translations

Anagrams

• betows, bowest

English

Etymology

From Middle English admitten, amitten, borrowed from Old French admettre, amettre (“to admit”), from Latin admitt? (“to allow entrance, inlet”, literally “to send to”), from ad- + mittere (“to send”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?m?t/
• Rhymes: -?t

Verb

admit (third-person singular simple present admits, present participle admitting, simple past and past participle admitted)

1. (transitive) To allow to enter; to grant entrance (to), whether into a place, into the mind, or into consideration

2. (transitive) To allow (someone) to enter a profession or to enjoy a privilege; to recognize as qualified for a franchise.

3. (transitive) To concede as true; to acknowledge or assent to, as an allegation which it is impossible to deny
   • 2011, Kitty Kelley, Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography (?ISBN):

     His sister, Patti, also admitted taking drugs, […]

   Synonyms: own up, confess

4. (transitive) To be capable of; to permit. In this sense, "of" may be used after the verb, or may be omitted.
5. (intransitive) To give warrant or allowance, to grant opportunity or permission (+ of).

6. (transitive) To allow to enter a hospital or similar facility for treatment.

Usage notes

In the sense "concede to be true", this is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• (to allow entry to): inlet, let in
• (to recognise as true): acknowledge, own

Derived terms

Related terms

• admissible
• admission
• mission

Translations

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ad.mi/

Verb

admit

1. third-person singular past historic of admettre