acquaintance

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Anglo-Norman aquaintaunce, aqueintance, Old French acointance (“friendship, familiarity”), from acointer (“to acquaint”). Compare French accointance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈkweɪntəns/
• IPA^(key): /ʌˈkweɪn.təns/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

acquaintance (countable and uncountable, plural acquaintances)

1. (uncountable) A state of being acquainted with a person; originally indicating friendship, intimacy, but now suggesting a slight knowledge less deep than that of friendship; acquaintanceship. [from 12th c.]

   I know of the man; but have no acquaintance with him.

   • 1799, William Jones (translator), Hito'pade'sa, in The Works, Volume 6, page 22:

     Contract no friendſhip, or even acquaintance, with a guileful man : he reſembles a coal, which when hot burneth the hand, and when cold blacketh it.

2. (countable) A person or persons with whom one is acquainted. [from 14th c.]
   • 1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XVI, in The History Of England From the Accession of James II:

     Montgomery was an old acquaintance of Ferguson.

3. (uncountable) Such people collectively; one's circle of acquaintances (with plural concord). [from 15th c.]
   • 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Penguin 2004, p. 230:

     Their mother […] was busy in the mean time in keeping up her connections, as she termed a numerous acquaintance, lest her girls should want a proper introduction into the great world.

4. Personal knowledge (with a specific subject etc.). [from 16th c.]

Usage notes

• Synonym notes: The words acquaintance, familiarity, and intimacy now mark different degrees of closeness in social intercourse. Acquaintance arises from occasional intercourse or interaction; as, "our acquaintance has been a brief one". We can speak of a slight or an intimate acquaintance. Familiarity is the result of continued acquaintance. It springs from persons being frequently together, so as to wear off all restraint and reserve; as, "the familiarity of old companions". Intimacy is the result of close connection, and the freest interchange of thought; as, "the intimacy of established friendship".

Synonyms

• familiarity, fellowship, intimacy, knowledge
• See also Thesaurus:acquaintance

Derived terms

• nodding acquaintance
• renew acquaintances

Related terms

• acquaint

Translations

state of being acquainted, acquaintanceship

• Armenian: ծանոթություն (hy) (canotʻutʻyun)
• Breton: konesañs
• Bulgarian: познанство (bg) (poznanstvo)
• Dutch: bekendheid (nl) f
• Finnish: tuttavuus (fi), tuttavasuhde
• French: relation (fr) f, (obsolete) accointance (fr) f
• Georgian: ნაცნობობა (nacnoboba)
• German: Bekanntschaft (de) f, Umgang (de) m
• Greek: γνωριμία (el) f (gnorimía)
• Hungarian: ismeretség (hu)
• Interlingue:
• Irish: aitheantas m, aithnid f
• Japanese: 知り合い (しりあい, shiriai)
• Latin: nōtitia f
• Latvian: pazīšanās f pl
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Persian: آشنایی (fa)
• Polish: znajomość (pl) f
• Portuguese: familiaridade (pt) f
• Russian: знако́мство (ru) n (znakómstvo)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: позна́нство n

  Roman: poznánstvo (sh) n

• Spanish: amistad (es) f, conocimiento (es) m, junta (es) f, relación (es) f, trato (es) m
• Swedish: bekantskap (sv) c
• Telugu: పరిచయము (te) (paricayamu)
• Turkish: aşina (tr)
• Uzbek: tanishuv
• Volapük: seväd (vo)

person

• Armenian: ծանոթ (hy) (canotʻ)
• Bashkir: таныш (tanış)
• Bulgarian: познайник (poznajnik), познат (bg) m (poznat), позната (bg) f (poznata), познати (bg) m pl or f pl (poznati), познайница f (poznajnica)
• Burmese: အသိအကျွမ်း (my) (a.si.a.kywam:)
• Catalan: conegut (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 熟人 (zh) (shúrén, shóurén), 相識／相识 (zh) (xiāngshí), 相识 (zh) (xiāngshí)

• Czech: známý (cs) m
• Danish: bekendt (da)
• Dutch: kennis (nl) m, bekende (nl) m
• Esperanto: konato
• Finnish: tuttava (fi), tuttu (fi)
• French: fréquentation (fr) f, relation (fr) f, connaissance (fr) f
• Georgian: ნაცნობი (nacnobi)
• German: Bekannter (de) m, Bekannte (de) f
• Greek: γνωστός (el) m (gnostós)

  Ancient: γνώριμος m (gnṓrimos)

• Hungarian: ismerős (hu)
• Interlingue:
• Italian: conoscenza (it) m
• Japanese: 知人 (ちじん, chijin), 知り合い (しりあい, shiriai)
• Khmer: ការស្គាល់គ្នា (kaa skoal knie)
• Korean: 아는 사람 (aneun saram)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani:

• Ladino: alishik
• Latvian: paziņa f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Mongolian: танил (mn) (tanil)
• Norman: accointance f (Jersey)
• Norwegian: forbindelse (no) m, bekjent (no)
• Persian: آشنا (fa) (âšnâ)
• Polish: znajomy (pl) m, znajoma (pl) f
• Portuguese: conhecido (pt) m
• Romanian: cunoscut (ro) m, cunoscută f, cunoștință (ro) f du
• Romansch: enconuschent m or f
• Russian: знако́мый (ru) m (znakómyj), знако́мая (ru) f (znakómaja)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: по̀знанӣк m, по̀знаница f

  Roman: pòznanīk (sh) m, pòznanica (sh) f

• Slovak: známy (sk) m, známa (sk) f, známosť f
• Spanish: conocido (es) m, conocida (es) f
• Swedish: bekant (sv) c
• Telugu: పరిచితుడు (te) (paricituḍu)
• Thai: ผู้คุ้นเคย (pûu-kún-kəəi)
• Tibetan: ངོ་ཤེས་པ (ngo shes pa)
• Tok Pisin: poroman, poro
• Tuvan: таныш (tanış)
• Ukrainian: знайо́мий m (znajómyj), знайо́ма f (znajóma)
• Uzbek: tanish (uz)
• Vietnamese: người quen (vi)
• Volapük: (♂♀) sevädan (vo), (♂) hisevädan, (♀) jisevädan
• Welsh: cydnabod (cy) m

References

• “acquaintance”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “acquaintance”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.