acknow

A1C3K5N1O1W4
UK/əkˈnəʊ/US/əkˈnoʊ/US/ækˈnoʊ/

verb

To recognize.

Scrabble 15

Meanings

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

present singular third person acknows · participle present acknowing · past acknew · participle past acknown

  1. obsoletetransitiveTo recognize.

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

    1606, Ben Jonson, Volpone, act 5, scene 4
  2. obsoletetransitiveTo acknowledge; confess (often with "of" or "on"), reveal, disclose, realize

    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.

    1532, Sir Thomas More, The Confutation of Tyndale's Answer
    1 more example

    Three years in his employment a secret agent in the Post Office Department, who obtained for him the first knowledge of the star route frauds, and placed it at his disposal before it Acknown to be suspected by either the public or the Government.

    1883 June 4, “Imprudent Mr. Hendricks”, in New York Times (Features), New York

Origin

  1. Old Englishācnāwan
  2. Middle Englishaknowen
  3. Englishacknow

From Middle English aknowen, from Old English ācnāwan, oncnāwan (“to know, recognize”), equivalent to a- + know.

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Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with acknow

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Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

acknow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acknow

MLA

“acknow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acknow. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “acknow,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acknow.

Source: acknow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.