acknow

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English aknowen, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English ācnāwan, oncnāwan (“to know, recognize”), equivalent to a- +‎ know.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əkˈnəʊ/
• IPA^(key): /əkˈnoʊ/, /ækˈnoʊ/
• Rhymes: -əʊ

Verb

acknow (third-person singular simple present acknows, present participle acknowing, simple past acknew, past participle acknown)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To recognize.
   • 1606, Ben Jonson, Volpone‎^[1], act 5, scene 4:

     You will not be acknown, sir; why, 'tis wise.
     Thus do all gamesters, at all games, dissemble:
     No man will seem to win.

2. (transitive, obsolete) To acknowledge; confess (often with "of" or "on"), reveal, disclose, realize
   • 1532, Sir Thomas More, The Confutation of Tyndale's Answer:

     We say of a stubborn body that standeth still in the denying of his fault, This man will not acknowledge his fault, or, He will not be acknown of his fault.

Derived terms

• acknowledge

Anagrams

• Nowack