acquaint

verb

ac·​quaint ə-ˈkwānt 

acquainted; acquainting; acquaints

transitive verb

1

: to cause to know personally

was acquainted with the mayor

2

: to make familiar : to cause to know firsthand

acquainting the new employees with their responsibilities

She took a few days to acquaint herself with the facts of the case.

Synonyms

• accustom
• familiarize
• initiate
• introduce
• orient
• orientate

Choose the Right Synonym for acquaint

inform, acquaint, apprise, notify mean to make one aware of something.

inform implies the imparting of knowledge especially of facts or occurrences.

informed us of the crisis

acquaint lays stress on introducing to or familiarizing with.

acquaint yourself with the keyboard

apprise implies communicating something of special interest or importance.

keep us apprised of the situation

notify implies sending notice of something requiring attention or demanding action.

notified the witness when to appear

Examples of acquaint in a Sentence

This class is designed to acquaint students with the region's most important writers.

Mr. King spent the first week of the summer internship acquainting everyone with the new computers.

Recent Examples on the Web

These nocturnal artisans were assisted by the four organists of Notre Dame, each of whom was intimately acquainted with the unique character of the organ’s sound from years spent playing the instrument. —Caroline Baum and Sérène Nourrison, CNN, 6 Dec. 2024

No sooner have participants gotten acquainted with one set of rules than another comes along demanding to be mastered. —Sean Lee, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024

Mimi Steinbauer, president Radiant Films Intl., finds many of her buyers are well acquainted with the popular destination. —Kathy A. McDonald, Variety, 4 Nov. 2024

Finally, we’re acquainted with the amphibious Nina Mazursky (The Afterparty’s Zoë Chao). —Hayden Mears, TVLine, 5 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English acoynten, aqueynten, borrowed from Anglo-French acuinter, acointer, aqueinter, going back to Vulgar Latin *accognitāre, frequentative formation from the base of Latin accognōscere "to recognize," from ad- ad- + cognōscere "to get to know" — more at cognition, quaint

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing acquaint

• acquaint oneself with

Kids Definition

acquaint

verb

ac·​quaint ə-ˈkwānt 

1

: to cause to know socially

became acquainted at school

2

: to cause to know firsthand : inform

acquaint her with her duties