Acquaint
(Ac*quaint") a. [OF. acoint. See Acquaint, v. t.] Acquainted. [Obs.]
Acquaint
(Ac*quaint"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Acquainted; p. pr. & vb. n. Acquainting.] [OE. aqueinten,
acointen, OF. acointier, LL. adcognitare, fr. L. ad + cognitus, p. p. of cognoscere to know; con- +
noscere to know. See Quaint, Know.]
1. 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.
Locke.
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
Isa. liii. 3.
2. To communicate notice to; to inform; to make cognizant; — followed by with 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.
Shak.
I must acquaint you that I have received
New dated letters from Northumberland.
Shak.
3. To familiarize; to accustom. [Obs.] Evelyn.
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.
Syn. — To inform; apprise; communicate; advise.
Acquaintable
(Ac*quaint"a*ble) a. [Cf. OF. acointable]. Easy to be acquainted with; affable. [Obs.]
Rom. of R.
Acquaintance
(Ac*quaint"ance) n. [OE. aqueintance, OF. acointance, fr. acointier. See Acquaint.]
1. A state of being acquainted, or of having intimate, or more than slight or superficial, knowledge; personal
knowledge gained by intercourse short of that of friendship or intimacy; as, I know the man; but have no
acquaintance with him.
Contract no friendship, or even acquaintance, with a guileful man.
Sir W. Jones.
2. A person or persons with whom one is acquainted.
Montgomery was an old acquaintance of Ferguson.
Macaulay.
In this sense the collective term acquaintance was formerly both singular and plural, but it is now commonly
singular, and has the regular plural acquaintances.
To be of acquaintance, to be intimate. — To take acquaintance of or with, to make the acquaintance
of. [Obs.]
Syn. — Familiarity; intimacy; fellowship; knowledge. — Acquaintance, Familiarity, Intimacy. These words
mark different degrees of closeness in social intercourse. Acquaintance arises from occasional intercourse; 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
