Dictionary entry

Acquaint (2)

Webster's Dictionary 1913

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 (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.

Shak.

I must acquaint you that I have received

New dated letters from Northumberland.

Shak.

3. To familiarize; to accustom. 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.