▪ I. acquaint, ppl. a. and n. arch.
(əˈkweɪnt)
For forms see acquaint v.
[a. OFr. acoint, later accoint:—L. accognit-um, ad-cognit-um; f. ad to + cognit-um pa. pple. of cognōsc-ĕre to know, f. co- = com together + gnōsc-ĕre to come to the knowledge of, inceptive of *gno-ĕre to know. Superseded in lit. Eng. by the pple. acquainted, but retained in northern Eng. and in lit. Scotch.]
A. ppl. a. = acquainted: personally known; mutually known; having personal or experimental knowledge of. Const. with (to obs.)
| 1297 R. Glouc. 465 He was a quointe muche to the quene of Fraunce. 1375 Barbour Bruce vii. 138 Forthir aquynt quhill that we be. c 1400 Rom. Rose 5203 With such love be no more aquente. c 1450 Merlin iv. 72, I shall make you aqueynte with a gode man. 1663 Blair Autobiog. (1848) v. 79 Desirous that I should be acquaint with him. 1720 Wodrow Corr. II. 471 (1843) Some coffee-houses you are acquaint with. 1794 Burns Wks. IV. 295 John Anderson my jo, John, When we were first acquent, Your locks were like the raven, Your bonnie brow was brent. 1867 J. Ingelow Story of Doom vii. 131 As men the less acquaint with deeds of blood. |
† B. n. An acquaintance. (Cf. OFr. acoint = familier, ami.) Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. 283 Harl. MS., To thy subjects do noon oppressioun; Ne make thyn acqueyntis fro the fle [Six-text MSS. acqueyntance-s]. |
▪ II. acquaint, v.
(əˈkweɪnt)
Forms: 3–5 acoint(e, akoint(e, acoynt(e; 4–5 aqueynt, aqweynt, acqueynt; 6 acquaynt; 6– acquaint. Aphet. 4–6 quaynt(e.
[a. OFr. acointe-r, also acuintier, acointier, acoentier:—late L. adcognitā-re, accognitā-re (c. 856) to make known, f. adcognit-um: see prec. Cf. mod.Fr. s'accointer.]
Primary sig. To make known, but in Eng. reflexive from the first.
† 1. refl. To make oneself known, introduce oneself, become known (to any one). Obs.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 15 Heo a coynted hym a non, and bi comen frendes gode. c 1314 Guy Warw. 35 To king Athelston thou schalt aqueynt the. c 1400 Destr. of Troy vii. 2931 Acoyntyng hom with kissyng and clippyng in armes. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour C ij. He hym self also spente largely for to acqueynte hym att the festes. |
† 2. intr. (by omission of refl. pron.) To become acquainted, or familiar; to attain to a state of mutual knowledge. Obs.
| c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame 250 To telle the manere How they aqueynteden in fere. 1509 Hawes Past. Pl. xi. xxi, But of rude people the wyttes are so faynt, That wyth theyr connyng they can not acquaynt. 1559 Myrroure for Mag., Mortimers xiii. 2 Well was the man that myght with me acquaynte. 1678 Bunyan Pilg. Prog. i. 156 He would that you should stay here a while to acquaint with us. 1774 H. Walpole Corresp. (1837) III. 111 Though the Choiseuls will not acquaint with you I hope their abbé Barthelemi is not put under the same quarantine. |
3. refl. To make (oneself) to have knowledge of, to give, or gain for, oneself personal knowledge of, or acquaintance with (any one). Now only in passive ‘To be acquainted (with anyone)’; the active is supplied by ‘to become acquainted with,’ ‘to make the acquaintance of,’ and famil. ‘to get to know.’
| 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 225 Þan went þis Ottobone þorghout þe cuntre, & quaynted him with ilkone. 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 532 And I saw that, and gan me aqueynt With hym. c 1430 How the Good Wijf tauȝte hir Douȝter 88, in Babees Bk. 40 Aqweynte þee not with eche man þat gooþ bi þe strete. c 1450 Lonelich Grail lii. 931 Mochel desire I now trewelye..Aqweynted with him to be. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour hv. b, It is good to acqueynt hymself with holy men. 1611 Bible Job xxii. 21 Acquaint now thy selfe with him, and be at peace. 1653 Marvell Let. 1. Wks. 1875 II. 5 Most of this time..hath been spent in acquainting ourselves with him. 1798 Southey Eng. Ecl. i. Wks. III. 8 You did not know me, But we're acquainted now. |
4. refl. and trans. To give (oneself or any one) experimental knowledge of, or acquaintance with (a thing).
| 1567 Triall of Treasure (1850) 15 Next here with Sturdiness you must you acquainte. 1611 Bible Eccl. ii. 3 Acquainting mine heart with wisedome. 1651 Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxii. 120 Power to order the same; and be acquainted with their accounts. 1666 Fuller Hist. Waltham Ab. (1840) 268, I shall select thence some memorable items, to acquaint us with the general devotion of those days. 1683 Dryden Life of Plutarch 65 Where he may command all sorts of books, and be acquainted also with such particulars as have escap'd the pens of writers. 1863 Bright Speeches, Amer. (1876) 139 No man in America or in England is more acquainted with the facts of this case. Mod. Acquaint yourself with the duties of your new sphere. |
† 5. trans. To familiarize, accustom, or habituate. Const. with, or inf. phr. Obs.
| 1586 B[eard] tr. La Primaudaye's Fr. Acad. II. 284 Acquainting our selves to love them that doe us good. 1599 Hakluyt Voyages II. ii. 137 The recouerie of their diseases doeth acquaint their bodies with the aire of the countries where they be. 1612 Brinsley Grammar-Sch. 213 Acquaint them to pronounce some speciall examples. 1658 Evelyn French Gard. (1675) 144 You may take off the bells to acquaint them [plants] with the air. |
6. trans. To inform (a person) of (a thing); to make cognizant or aware. Const. with, that (of obs.).
| 1559–66 Hist. Estate Scotl. in Miscell. Wod. Soc. (1844) 57 They sent a post to the Queene, acquainting her of the matter. 1586 James VI in Ellis Orig. Lett. i. 224. III. 21 Quho indeid are fullie aquentid thairwith. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 696 It were a peece of honestie to acquaint the King withall. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerusalem (1732) 66 To acquaint the Governour of our Arrival. 1742 Fielding Jos. Andrews iv. v. 115 He was acquainted that his worship would wait on him. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. 185 Jeanie..could scarce find voice to acquaint him, that she had an order from Bailie Middleburgh. 1855 Prescott Philip II, ii. vii. (1857) 276 They had acquainted the regent with their intention. |
b. ellipt. (with personal obj. only). To inform.
| 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iii. ii. 15 Be secret false; what need she be acquainted? 1749 Fielding Tom Jones vi. ii. (1840) 68/1 [He] begged her, if anything ailed his daughter, to acquaint him immediately. 1775 Sheridan Duenna i. iv. 196, I shall certainly acquaint your father. |
† c. (with the thing only as obj.) To tell, make known. Obs. (In this sense the word comes round again to the original sense of adcognitāre.)
| 1607 Rowlands Famous Hist. 79 Acquaint thy name in private unto me. 1678 Butler Hudibr. iii. i. 1390 And he knows nothing of the Saints, But what some treach'rous spy acquaints. |