cession

The word 'cession' originates from the Latin noun 'cessio', which is derived from the verb 'cedere', meaning 'to go, to withdraw, to yield'. The root 'cess-' is the past participial stem of this verb. The suffix '-ion' is a common Latin formative that creates nouns denoting an action or its result. Thus, the literal meaning of 'cessio' was 'a yielding or giving up'. This concept was adopted into English via Old French, retaining its core legal and diplomatic sense of formally surrendering or transferring possession, as in the cession of land from one country to another following a treaty.

Structure: cess (go, yield) + ion (noun suffix) cess (Latin, verb root meaning 'to go, to yield'); ion (Latin, suffix forming nouns of action or state).