ACCEPTANCE. In relation to contracts generally, the term "acceptance" means the signification of assent by one person to a proposal made by another.
In relation to contracts of sale the term has two signification which must be distinguished. There is an acceptance in performance of the contract when the buyer intimates to the seller that he has accepted the goods, or when he does any act in relation to them inconsistent with the ownership of the seller ; but for the purposes of the 17th section of the Statute of Frauds, it is sufficient if he does any act which recognises a pre-existing contract of sale, even though lie may not be precluded from afterwards rejecting the goods (see SALE).
In relation to bills of exchange the term primarily means the acceptance by the drawee of a bill of exchange duly written thereon and signed ; but as the main object of the drawer of a bill is to get it accepted, the term " acceptance " is frequently used to denote the bill itself, and is then synonymous with "bill of exchange" (see BILL OF EXCHANGE).