Admission

Admission tickets

 It has eventually dawned that it is not that common for people to admit they were wrong.

Incidentally: The truth dawned on her - the truth was dark to her and then she saw it.  It's rather like The scales fell from his eyes - he was prevented from seeing and then he saw.

Admission of the truth does not always imply guilt, according to the OED  You can admit a fact but not a criminal charge. 

This sense goes back to the fifteenth century:

1. a1538

   You are veray esy in the admysyon of thes fautys in the sprytualty.

   T. Starkey, Dialogue Pole & Lupset (1989) 85

It's a word, that sits on the sharp fence between acknowledging something as true and the potential implication that the acknowledgement may cause one to be seen in a less-than-ideal light.

When we say He admitted the truth of it, or she admitted it was so, we have the sense of reluctance. 

Admission also has a connotation of price via e.g. "the admission fee". This goes back to at least 1788:

1. 1788

   The fishermen have inclosed it [sc. a whale] with sail cloth, and each person pays 3d. admission.

   Gentleman's & London Magazine September 500/2

So when we admit we were wrong, do these senses merge? Is the admission the price of a cleansing of the soul that we may see the truth?  

“Admission, N., Various senses.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, December 2023.