Accesses

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈæksɛsɪz/

Definitions

1. Gains entry to a location or approaches it ; obtains data or information from a system or source
2. Comes near or into a place to reach it ; gets information from a computer or database
3. Approaches or opens a site for entry ; accesses data held in an electronic format

Etymology: Access comes from Latin "accessus," the past participle of "accedere," meaning "to approach" or "to move toward," built from "ad" (toward) and "cedere" (to move or yield). The Latin sense of approaching a place passed into Middle English as "access" in the early 14th century, though the earlier English meaning was closer to a sudden attack or fit, as in a fit of illness, which French had used for an onslaught. The sense "entrance" or "way in" did not appear until about 1380, and it is that physical sense of a route toward something that gave rise to the modern meaning of getting to or using something. "Accesses" is the plural of the noun, and it is also the third-person singular form of the verb "access," meaning to retrieve or gain entry to data or a resource. The verb's computing sense is recorded from 1962, when the word was applied to retrieving information from storage, so the plural noun and the verb share one root that has moved from physical approach to digital retrieval.

Synonyms: entry, approach, admittance, passage

Antonyms: exits, blockages