definition of the word acquaintby the Wiktionnary
Middle English aqueinten, acointen < Old French acointier < Late Latin adcognitare < Latin ad + cognitus, past participle of cognoscere (“‘to know’”) < con- + noscere (“‘to know’”). See quaint, know.
to acquaint (third-person singular simple present acquaints, present participle acquainting, simple past and past participle acquainted)
- (transitive) To furnish or give experimental knowledge of; to make (one) to know; to make familiar; -- followed by with.
- Before a man can speak on any subject, it is necessary to be acquainted with it. -John Locke
- A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. -Isaiah 53:3
- (ditransitive) To communicate notice to; to inform; to make cognizant; -- followed by with (formerly, also, by of), or by that, introducing the intelligence; as, to acquaint a friend with the particulars of an act.
- Acquaint her here of my son Paris' love. -Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, III-iv
- I must acquaint you that I have received New dated letters from Northumberland. -Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part II, IV-i
- (obsolete, transitive) To familiarize; to accustom.
- To be acquainted with: to be possessed of personal knowledge of; to be cognizant of; to be more or less familiar with; to be on terms of social intercourse with.
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