Acceptees

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals who have received an offer or invitation, typically in a formal context
2. Persons who have been accepted into a group or organization, usually based on specific criteria
3. Those acknowledged or approved by a decision-making body, indicating their acceptance in a given situation

Etymology: The "-ee" in "acceptee" is the same ending found in "employee," "trainee" and "refugee," and it goes back to Old French "-ée," the feminine past participle ending that came from Latin "-ātus." English took the suffix as a way of naming the person who receives or undergoes an action, so an "acceptee" is simply someone who has been accepted. The base word "accept" is an older borrowing. It came into Middle English from Old French "accepter," which in turn came from Latin "acceptare," a frequentative form of "accipere," meaning "to receive" or "to take up." That Latin verb was built from "ad-" ("to") and "capere" ("to take"), so the core idea of accepting is literally taking something toward oneself. The noun itself is a modern formation, built in English by joining the verb to the suffix. Its plural, "acceptees," simply adds the regular "-s" to that noun, so it refers to a group of people who have been admitted to something.

Synonyms: recipients, acceptors, participants, members, joiners