Meanings
present singular third person acquaints · participle present acquainting · participle past acquainted · past acquainted
- transitiveTo furnish or give experimental knowledge of; to make (one) know; to make familiar.
I think you should acquaint him with the realities of the situation.
2 more examples
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.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 53:3Before 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.
1693, [John Locke], “§162”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC, page 203Synonyms: familiarize
- archaictransitiveTo communicate notice to; to inform; let know.
Acquaint her here, of my Sonne Paris Loue,
c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 68, column 23 more examples
I muſt acquaint you, that I haue recciu'd New-dated Letters from Northumberland:
c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 91, column 1I had almoſt forgotten to acquaint your honor, that one major Alford (who was in mr. Love's conſpiracy) was of the graund inqueſt at Saliſbury, and was very zealous in his highneſſe ſervice here, and his good affection and wiſe carriage here, did much advantage the buſſineſe.
1655 April 21, “Mr. Ja. Nutley to ſecreary Thurloe.”, in A Collection of the State Papers of John Thurloe, Eſq; […], volume III, London: […] the Executor of the late Mr. Fletcher Gyles; Thomas Woodward, […] Charles Davis, […], published 1742, page 399He went directly, sign'd the indentures, was put into the ship, and came over, never writing a line to acquaint his friends what was become of him.
1771–1790, Benjamin Franklin, “The Autobiography [Part 1]”, in John Bigelow, editor, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. […], Philadelphia, Pa.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott & Co., published 1868, →OCLC, page 159Synonyms: advise
- obsoletetransitiveTo familiarize; to accustom.
October 2 1642, Isaac Basire, letter to John Evelyn What success it may further have I shall acquaint you at my coming over
Synonyms: to familiarize, to accustom
- Scotlandnot comparableAcquainted.First known use 14th c.
[I]f you have skimmed through even a paragraph of my poor neglected little magnum opus you will know I am unusually acquaint with my inner workings.
1992, Alasdair Gray, Poor Things, Bloomsbury, published 2002, page 317
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo furnish or give experimental knowledge of; to make (one) know; to make familiar.
verbTo communicate notice to; to inform; let know.
verbTo familiarize; to accustom.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latincognoscō
- Late Latinaccognitus
- Early Medieval Latinaccognitāre
- Old Frenchacointier
- Middle Englishaqueynten, acointen
- Englishacquaint
From Middle English aqueynten, acointen, from Old French acointier, from Early Medieval Latin accognitāre, from Late Latin accognitus, past participle of accognoscō, from Latin cognoscō, from nōscō. See also quaint, know.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Early Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian запознавам, известявам
- запознавам (zapoznavam)to furnish or give experimental knowledge of
- известявам (izvestjavam)to furnish or give experimental knowledge of
- съобщавам (săobštavam)to communicate notice to
- запознавам (zapoznavam)to familiarize; to accustom
Danish lære at kende
- lære at kendeto furnish or give experimental knowledge of
Finnish tutustuttaa, perehdyttää
- tutustuttaato furnish or give experimental knowledge of
- perehdyttääto furnish or give experimental knowledge of
- tiedottaato communicate notice to
- totuttaato familiarize; to accustom
German vertraut machen, in Kenntnis setzen
- vertraut machento furnish or give experimental knowledge of
- in Kenntnis setzento communicate notice to
- mitteilento communicate notice to
- unterrichten (with darüber)to communicate notice to
- informieren (with darüber)to communicate notice to
Hungarian megismertet, összeismertet
- megismertetto furnish or give experimental knowledge of
- összeismertetto furnish or give experimental knowledge of
- ismertetto furnish or give experimental knowledge of
- tudatto communicate notice to
- tudomására hozto communicate notice to
- értesítto communicate notice to
Portuguese familiarizar
- familiarizarto familiarize; to accustom
Russian ознакомить
- ознакомить (oznakomitʹ)to furnish or give experimental knowledge of
Spanish dar a conocer, familiarizar
- dar a conocerto furnish or give experimental knowledge of
- familiarizarto furnish or give experimental knowledge of
- presentarto furnish or give experimental knowledge of
- familiarizarto familiarize; to accustom
Swedish bekanta sig, sätta sig in
- bekanta sigto furnish or give experimental knowledge of
- sätta sig into furnish or give experimental knowledge of
Ukrainian знайо́мити, познайо́мити
- знайо́мити (znajómyty)to furnish or give experimental knowledge of
- познайо́мити (poznajómyty)to furnish or give experimental knowledge of
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with acquaint
Cite this entry
acquaint. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acquaint
“acquaint.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acquaint. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “acquaint,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/acquaint.
Source: acquaint on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.