c.1325, "an attack of fever," from O.Fr.
acces "onslaught," from L.
accessus "a coming to, an approach," pp. of
accedere "approach" (see
accede). Meaning "habit or power of getting into the presence of (someone or something)" is from 1382. As a verb, first recorded 1962.
Accessible "easy to reach" first recorded 1642; meaning "easy to understand" is from 1961 (a term not needed in the years before writing or art often deliberately was made not so).
Accessory/accessary first attested 1414 as a legal term in the criminal sense; 1896 as "woman's smaller articles of dress," hence
accessorize (1939).
Accession "act of coming to a position," especially of a throne, is 1769 (first recorded in Burke).