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

Of course, children should become acquainted with the wide variety of beliefs and lifestyles among Americans in order to appreciate the value of diversity in our society. —Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 21 Mar. 2025

Those services can include providing initial housing and basic necessities and acquainting refugees with the United States’s language and culture. —Ashley Oliver, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 28 Feb. 2025

What’s interesting about season three so far is how they’re increasingly foregrounded, deployed as a recurring motif that looms over the proceedings as the premiere acquaints us with the weirdness present in each set of characters. —Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 16 Feb. 2025

Naomie Harris and Black Bag costar Regé-Jean Page became acquainted quickly while filming director Steven Soderbergh’s new spy thriller. —Eric Andersson, People.com, 12 Mar. 2025

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

Rhymes for acquaint

• complaint
• constraint
• distraint
• enceinte
• repaint
• restraint
• faint
• feint
• maint
• paint
• plaint
• quaint

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