acquaintance

English

Etymology

From Middle English aqueyntaunce, from Anglo-Norman aquaintaunce, aqueintance, Old French acointance (“friendship, familiarity”), from Old French acointer (“to acquaint”). Compare French accointance.

Morphologically acquaint +‎ -ance.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈkweɪntəns/
(US) IPA^(key): /ʌˈkweɪn.təns/
Audio (US) (file)

Noun

acquaintance (countable and uncountable, plural acquaintances)

(uncountable) A state of being acquainted with a person; originally indicating friendship, intimacy, but now suggesting a slight knowledge less deep than that of friendship; acquaintanceship. [from 12th c.]
I know of the man; but have no acquaintance with him.
- 1799, William Jones (translator), Hito'pade'sa, in The Works, Volume 6, page 22:
  Contract no friendſhip, or even acquaintance, with a guileful man : he reſembles a coal, which when hot burneth the hand, and when cold blacketh it.
(countable) A person or persons with whom one is acquainted. [from 14th c.]
- 1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XVI, in The History Of England From the Accession of James II:
  Montgomery was an old acquaintance of Ferguson.
(uncountable) Such people collectively; one's circle of acquaintances (with plural concord). [from 15th c.]
- 1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, 1st American edition, Boston, Mass.: […] Peter Edes for Thomas and Andrews, […], published 1792, OCLC 5625662194:
  Their mother […] was busy in the mean time in keeping up her connections, as she termed a numerous acquaintance, lest her girls should want a proper introduction into the great world.
Personal knowledge (with a specific subject etc.). [from 16th c.]
- 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, Olympia Press:
  The words of these songs were either without meaning, or derived from an idiom with which Watt, a very fair linguist, had no acquaintance.

Usage notes

Synonym notes: The words acquaintance, familiarity, and intimacy now mark different degrees of closeness in social intercourse. Acquaintance arises from occasional intercourse or interaction; 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 wear off all restraint and reserve; as, "the familiarity of old companions". Intimacy is the result of close connection, and the freest interchange of thought; as, "the intimacy of established friendship".

Synonyms

familiarity, fellowship, intimacy, knowledge
See also Thesaurus:acquaintance

Derived terms

acquaintance rape
chance acquaintance
make someone's acquaintance
nodding acquaintance
renew acquaintances
scrape acquaintance

Related terms

acquaint

Translations

state of being acquainted, acquaintanceship

Armenian: ծանոթություն (hy) (canotʿutʿyun)
Breton: konesañs
Bulgarian: познанство (bg) (poznanstvo)
Czech: známost f
Dutch: bekendheid (nl) f
Finnish: tuttavuus (fi), tuttavasuhde
French: relation (fr) f, (obsolete) accointance (fr) f
Georgian: ნაცნობობა (nacnoboba)
German: Bekanntschaft (de) f, Umgang (de) m
Greek: γνωριμία (el) f (gnorimía)
Hungarian: ismeretség (hu)
Irish: aitheantas m, aithnid f
Italian: conoscenza (it) f
Japanese: 知り合い (ja) (しりあい, shiriai)
Latin: nōtitia f
Latvian: pazīšanās f pl
Malayalam: പരിചയം (ml) (paricayaṃ)
Persian: آشنایی‎ (fa)
Polish: znajomość (pl) f
Portuguese: familiaridade (pt) f
Russian: знако́мство (ru) n (znakómstvo)
Sardinian: connoschimentu m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: позна́нство n
Roman: poznánstvo (sh) n
Spanish: amistad (es) f, conocimiento (es) m, junta (es) f, relación (es) f, trato (es) m
Swedish: bekantskap (sv) c
Telugu: పరిచయము (te) (paricayamu)
Turkish: aşina (tr)
Uzbek: tanishuv
Volapük: seväd (vo)

person

Armenian: ծանոթ (hy) (canotʿ)
Azerbaijani: tanış (az), aşna (az) (dated), tanış-biliş (collectively)
Bashkir: таныш (tanış)
Belarusian: знаёмы m (znajómy), знаёмая f (znajómaja)
Bikol Central: midmid
Bulgarian: познайник (poznajnik), познат (bg) m (poznat), позната (bg) f (poznata), познати (bg) m pl or f pl (poznati), познайница f (poznajnica)
Burmese: အသိအကျွမ်း (my) (a.si.a.kywam:)
Catalan: conegut (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 熟人 (zh) (shúrén, shóurén), 相識／相识 (zh) (xiāngshí)
Czech: známý (cs) m, známá f
Danish: bekendt (da)
Dutch: kennis (nl) m, bekende (nl) m
Esperanto: konato
Finnish: tuttava (fi), tuttu (fi)
French: fréquentation (fr) f, relation (fr) f, connaissance (fr) f
Galician: coñecido
Georgian: ნაცნობი (nacnobi)
German: Bekannter (de) m, Bekannte (de) f
Greek: γνωστός (el) m (gnostós)
Ancient: γνώριμος m (gnṓrimos)
Hungarian: ismerős (hu)
Ibatan: am-ammo
Italian: conoscenza (it) f
Japanese: 知人 (ja) (ちじん, chijin), 知り合い (ja) (しりあい, shiriai)
Khmer: ការស្គាល់គ្នា (kaa skoal knie)
Korean: 아는 사람 (aneun saram)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ناسیار‎ (ku) (nasyar)
Ladino: alishik
Latvian: paziņa f
Macedonian: познаник m (poznanik), познаничка f (poznanička)
Malayalam: പരിചയക്കാരൻ (ml) (paricayakkāraṉ)
Maranao: kagiginawa
Mongolian: танил (mn) (tanil)
Norman: accointance f (Jersey)
Norwegian: forbindelse (no) m, bekjent (no)
Old English: cūþ
Pangasinan: kabkabat
Persian: آشنا‎ (fa) (âšnâ)
Polish: znajomy (pl) m, znajoma (pl) f
Portuguese: conhecido (pt) m
Romanian: cunoscut (ro) m, cunoscută f, cunoștință (ro) f du
Romansch: enconuschent m or f
Russian: знако́мый (ru) m (znakómyj), знако́мая (ru) f (znakómaja)
Sardinian: connoschènte m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: по̀знанӣк m, по̀знаница f
Roman: pòznanīk (sh) m, pòznanica (sh) f
Slovak: známy (sk) m, známa (sk) f, známosť f
Spanish: conocido (es) m, conocida (es) f
Swedish: bekant (sv) c
Tagalog: kakilala
Telugu: పరిచితుడు (te) (paricituḍu)
Thai: คนรู้จัก, ผู้คุ้นเคย
Tibetan: ངོ་ཤེས་པ (ngo shes pa)
Tok Pisin: poroman (tpi), poro (tpi)
Tuvan: таныш (tanış)
Ukrainian: знайо́мий m (znajómyj), знайо́ма f (znajóma)
Uzbek: tanish (uz)
Vietnamese: người quen (vi)
Volapük: (♂♀) sevädan (vo), (♂) hisevädan, (♀) jisevädan
Welsh: cydnabod (cy) m

References

acquaintance in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
acquaintance at OneLook Dictionary Search

Scots

Noun

acquaintance (plural acquaintances)

Alternative form of acquantance

References

“acquaintance, n.” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.