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definitions

acquaintance

[uh-kweyn-tns]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR acquaintance ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person known to one, but usually not a close friend.
the state of being acquainted or casually familiar with someone or something: As far as I know, no one of my acquaintance has traveled around the world.
personal knowledge as a result of study, experience, etc.: a good acquaintance with French wines.
(used with a plural verb) the persons with whom one is acquainted.
Also ac·quaint·ance·ship (for defs 2, 3).

Origin of acquaintance

1250–1300; Middle English aqueinta(u)nce, acoyntaunce < Old French acointance. See acquaint, -ance
Related formsnon·ac·quaint·ance, nounnon·ac·quaint·ance·ship, nounpre·ac·quaint·ance, nounpseu·do·ac·quaint·ance, nounre·ac·quaint·ance, noun

Synonyms for acquaintance

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR acquaintance ON THESAURUS.COM
3. familiarity, awareness.

Synonym study

1. Acquaintance, associate, companion, friend refer to a person with whom one is in contact. An acquaintance is someone recognized by sight or someone known, though not intimately: a casual acquaintance. An associate is a person who is often in one's company, usually because of some work, enterprise, or pursuit in common: a business associate. A companion is a person who shares one's activities, fate, or condition: a traveling companion; companion in despair. A friend is a person with whom one is on intimate terms and for whom one feels a warm affection: a trusted friend.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for acquaintanceship

partnership, cooperation, information, perception, consciousness, attention, experience, understanding, appreciation, alertness, realization, recognition, boldness, intimacy, closeness, freshness, pact, accord, love, devotion

Examples from the Web for acquaintanceship

Contemporary Examples of acquaintanceship

Historical Examples of acquaintanceship

  • The Doctor was learned; but this acquaintanceship, this education, he had never got.

    Dr. Sevier

    George W. Cable

  • I ask this because I'm afraid that if he does, he might object to our—our acquaintanceship.

    Mixed Faces

    Roy Norton

  • In fact, one thing is clear to me, she must discontinue your acquaintanceship at once.

  • It might at least go some way towards finishing our acquaintanceship.

  • For the first time in our acquaintanceship, I succeeded in interesting him in the Indian.

British Dictionary definitions for acquaintanceship

acquaintance

noun

a person with whom one has been in contact but who is not a close friend
knowledge of a person or thing, esp when slight
make the acquaintance of to come into social contact with
those persons collectively whom one knows
philosophy the relation between a knower and the object of his knowledge, as contrasted with knowledge by description (esp in the phrase knowledge by acquaintance)
Derived Formsacquaintanceship, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for acquaintanceship

acquaintance

n.

c.1300, "state of being acquainted;" late 14c., "person with whom one is acquainted;" also "personal knowledge;" from Old French acointance "acquaintance, friendship, familiarity," noun of action from acointer (see acquaint). Acquaintant (17c.), would have been better in the "person known" sense but is now obsolete.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with acquaintanceship

acquaintance

see nodding acquaintance; scrape up an acquaintance.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.