E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Admittance.
Licence. Shakespeare says. “Sir John, you are a gentleman of excellent breeding, of great admittance”—i.e., to whom great freedom is allowed (Merry Wives, ii. 2). The allusion is to an obsolete custom called admission, by which a prince avowed another prince to be under his protection. Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, was the “admittant” of the Emperor Napoleon III.
