accordance
- 1Agreement or harmony with something, including conformity or compliance with a rule, law, or wish.
The old warehouse was torn down in strict accordance with city safety codes.
Her quiet, careful choices were always in accordance with her beliefs.
Similarcompliance, agreement, conformity, harmony
Oppositeconflict, disagreement
Note
Today the noun lives mostly in the phrase in accordance with, often tightened to in strict accordance with: Macaulay's "in strict accordance with the law of Parliament" is the pattern. It is accord plus -ance, from Old French acordance, "agreeing, reconciliation, harmony," and English has used it for both compliance and agreement since the early 1300s.
Less common meaning
- 2The act of granting something to a person or group.
Use it in a sentence
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Origin
From Middle English accordaunce, from Old French acordance ("agreeing, reconciliation, harmony"); it is accord + -ance. The sense of compliance is first attested around 1300, and the sense of agreement in the early 14th century.