acquaintance
[ uh-kweyn-tns ]
/ əˈkweɪn tns /
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.
RELATED WORDS
partnership, cooperation, information, perception, consciousness, attention, experience, understanding, appreciation, alertness, realization, recognition, boldness, intimacy, closeness, freshness, pact, accord, love, devotion
Nearby words
- acoustoelectronic,
- acoustooptics,
- acp,
- acpt.,
- acquaint,
- acquaintance rape,
- acquaintance violence,
- acquainted,
- acquest,
- acquiesce
Also ac·quaint·ance·ship (for defs 2, 3).
Origin of acquaintance
SYNONYMS FOR acquaintance
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
Examples from the Web for acquaintanceship
acquaintance
/ (əˈkweɪntəns) /
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)
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
acquaintance
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
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.