acquaint
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Middle English aqueinten, acointen, from Old French acointier, from Late Latin adcognitare, from Latin ad + cognitus, past participle of cognoscere (“to know”), from con- + noscere (“to know”). See quaint, know.
[edit] Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -eɪnt
[edit] Verb
acquaint (third-person singular simple present acquaints, present participle acquainting, simple past and past participle acquainted)
- (transitive) To furnish or give experimental knowledge of; to make (one) to know; to make familiar; -- followed by 'with'.
- Before a man can speak on any subject, it is necessary to be acquainted with it. -John Locke
- A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. -Isaiah 53:3
- (ditransitive) To communicate notice to; to inform; to make cognizant; -- followed by 'with' (formerly, also, by 'of'), or by 'that', introducing the intelligence; as, to acquaint a friend with the particulars of an act.
- Acquaint her here of my son Paris' love. -Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, III-iv
- I must acquaint you that I have received New dated letters from Northumberland. -William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part II, IV-i
- (obsolete, transitive) To familiarize; to accustom.
[edit] Derived terms
- To be acquainted with: to be possessed of personal knowledge of; to be cognizant of; to be more or less familiar with; to be on terms of social intercourse with.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Translations
to furnish or give experimental knowledge of
|
|
to familiarize; to accustom
|
|
[edit] Adjective
acquaint (not comparable)
[edit] Related terms
[edit] References
- acquaint in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- acquaint in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- acquaint at OneLook Dictionary Search
