acquaint

English

Etymology

From Middle English aqueinten, acointen, from Old French acointier, from Late Latin accognitāre, from Latin ad + cognitus, past participle of cognoscere (“to know”), from con- + noscere (“to know”). See quaint, know.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈkweɪnt/
• Hyphenation: ac‧quaint
• Rhymes: -eɪnt

Verb

acquaint (third-person singular simple present acquaints, present participle acquainting, simple past and past participle acquainted)

1. (transitive, followed by with) To furnish or give experimental knowledge of; to make (one) to know; to make familiar.

   I think you should acquaint him with the realities of the situation.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Isaiah 53:3:

     He is despised and reiected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefe: and we hid as it were our faces from him; hee was despised, and wee esteemed him not.

   • 1693, [John Locke], “§162”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: Printed for A. and J. Churchill, […], page 203:

     Before a Man can be in any capacity to ſpeak on any ſubject, 'tis neceſsary to be acquainted with it: Or elſe 'tis as fooliſh to ſet him to diſcourſe on it, as to ſet a blind Man to talk of Colours, or a deaf man of Muſick.

2. (transitive, archaic, followed by of or that) To communicate notice to; to inform; to make cognizant.
   • c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene iv], page 68, column 2:

     Acquaint her here, of my Sonne Paris Loue,

   • c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene i], page 91, column 1:

     I muſt acquaint you, that I haue recciu'd
     New-dated Letters from Northumberland:

3. (transitive, obsolete) To familiarize; to accustom.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Evelyn to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (to make familiar): familiarize
• (to communicate notice to): advise, apprise, inform; See also Thesaurus:inform
• (to familiarize; to accustom): habituate, inure

Translations

to furnish or give experimental knowledge of

• Belarusian: знаёміць impf (znajómicʹ), пазнаёміць pf (paznajómicʹ)
• Bulgarian: запознавам (zapoznavam), известявам (bg) (izvestjavam)
• Danish: lære at kende
• Finnish: tutustuttaa (fi), perehdyttää (fi)
• German: vertraut machen
• Hungarian: megismertet (hu)

• Interlingue: conossentar
• Russian: ознакомить (ru) (oznakomitʹ)
• Spanish: dar a conocer
• Swedish: bekanta sig
• Ukrainian: знайо́мити impf (znajómyty), познайо́мити pf (poznajómyty)

to communicate notice to

• Bulgarian: съобщавам (bg) (sǎobštavam)

• German: in Kenntnis setzen (with davon), mitteilen (de), unterrichten (de) (with darüber), informieren (de) (with darüber)

to familiarize; to accustom

• Bulgarian: запознавам (zapoznavam)
• Portuguese: familiarizar (pt)

• Spanish: familiarizar (es)

Adjective

acquaint (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Acquainted.

Related terms

• acquaintance
• acquainted

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