acquaint

acquaint
\ \ [13] Acquaint is connected with quaint, distant though they may seem in meaning. It comes via Old French acointer from medieval Latin accognitāre, which was based ultimately on cognitus, the past participle of cognoscereknow’. Cognitus gave English cognition, of course, but also quaint (cognitus developed into cointe, queinte in Old French, and came to mean ‘skilled, expert’; this led later to the notion of being skilfully made or elegant, which eventually degenerated into ‘agreeably curious’).
\ \ Cf.COGNITION, QUAINT

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • 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 …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Acquaint — Ac*quaint , a. [OF. acoint. See {Acquaint}, v. t.] Acquainted. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • acquaint — ► VERB 1) (acquaint with) make (someone) aware of or familiar with. 2) (be acquainted with) know personally. 3) (be acquainted) (of two or more people) know each other personally. ORIGIN Latin accognitare, from cognoscere come to know …   English terms dictionary

  • acquaint — [ə kwānt′] vt. [ME aqueinten < OFr acointier < ML adcognitare < L ad , to + cognitus, pp. of cognoscere, to know thoroughly < con , with gnoscere, KNOW] 1. to let know; give knowledge to; make aware; inform [to acquaint oneself with… …   English World dictionary

  • acquaint — index apprise, communicate, convey (communicate), disabuse, disclose, divulge, enlighten, impart …   Law dictionary

  • acquaint — (v.) early 13c., from O.Fr. acointier make known, make acquaintance of, from V.L. accognitare to make known, from L. accognitus acquainted with, pp. of accognoscere know well, from ad to (see AD (Cf. ad )) + cognitus, pp. of cogniscere …   Etymology dictionary

  • acquaint — *inform, apprise, advise, notify Analogous words: tell, *reveal, disclose, divulge: *teach, instruct, educate, school: accustom, *habituate Contrasted words: conceal, *hide: withhold, reserve, hold, hold back (i …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • acquaint — [v] inform oneself or another about something new accustom, advise, apprise, bring out, clue, come out with*, disclose, divulge, enlighten, familiarize, fill in, fix up*, get together*, habituate, inform, intro*, introduce, knock down*, let know …   New thesaurus

  • acquaint — UK [əˈkweɪnt] / US verb [transitive] Word forms acquaint : present tense I/you/we/they acquaint he/she/it acquaints present participle acquainting past tense acquainted past participle acquainted formal to give someone information about something …   English dictionary

  • acquaint — /əˈkweɪnt / (say uh kwaynt) verb (t) 1. (sometimes followed by with) to share information with: *She was urged by no reciprocal sisterly desire to acquaint Norman with her knowledge. –xavier herbert, 1938. 2. US (sometimes followed by to or with) …  

  • acquaint — ac|quaint [əˈkweınt] v [T] [Date: 1200 1300; : Old French; Origin: acointier, from Medieval Latin accognitare, from Late Latin accognoscere to know perfectly , from Latin ad to + cognoscere to know ] 1.) acquaint yourself with sth formal to… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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