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Glite Dictionary
to deaccession

to deaccession

9.9
To remove an item from a museum or library collection and sell it to raise money for new items
  • verb
  • /ˌdiːəˈsɛʃən/
  • Formal
translation icon : desincorporar
  • In 1995, James Wood, Richard Townsend, and the department's advisory committee agreed to narrow the department's focus by deaccessioning the museum's Oceanic collection.

Examples

  • To raise funds for renovations, the library plans to deaccession some of its rare books.

  • The museum was deaccessioning its mineral collection and had placed it with several reputable dealers to sell.

    Academic text (2009)

  • The Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium, subsequently acquired it along with three other figures by the same master artist, then deaccessioned it in 1972.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The museum decided to deaccession several artworks to make room for new exhibitions.

  • Due to budget cuts, the gallery was forced to deaccession part of its art collection.

Synonyms

to dispose
vsto deaccession
149 3.4

Get rid of something by throwing it away, selling it, or giving it to someone

is a formal removal from a collection rather than general disposal
to de-access
vsto deaccession
  • Jargon
9.9

To remove an item from a museum collection to sell or throw it away

is the official museum or library process often used to raise funds

Antonyms

accession
  • Specialized
1 7.7

An item added to a museum or library collection

How Permanent

to discard
130 2.7
to sell
∞ 1.0
to deaccession
  • Formal
9.9
to withdraw
159 3.5
to loan
259 2.0

Surface Forms

deaccession infinitive
deaccessioned past
deaccessioned past participle
deaccessioning present participle
deaccessions third person singular

Morphology

deaccession = accession (semi-transparent) = de + accession

The meaning follows the productive negating prefix 'de-' + 'accession', but 'accession' is specialized jargon for adding items to collections, so general learners may need domain knowledge.

Etymology

Deaccession breaks into de- meaning 'remove' and accession meaning 'an addition to a collection', like the familiar word access. So, to deaccession is to officially remove an item from a museum or library collection, often by selling it to raise money for new purchases.