Acquaintance
- Acquaintance
- Acquaintance Ac*quaint"ance, n. [OE. aqueintance, OF.
acointance, fr. acointier. See {Acquaint}.]
1. A state of being acquainted, or of having intimate, or
more than slight or superficial, knowledge; personal
knowledge gained by intercourse short of that of
friendship or intimacy; as, I know the man; but have no
acquaintance with him.
[1913 Webster]
Contract no friendship, or even acquaintance, with a
guileful man. --Sir W.
Jones.
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2. A person or persons with whom one is acquainted.
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Montgomery was an old acquaintance of Ferguson.
--Macaulay.
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Note: In this sense the collective term acquaintance was
formerly both singular and plural, but it is now
commonly singular, and has the regular plural
acquaintances.
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{To be of acquaintance}, to be intimate.
{To take acquaintance of} or {with}, to make the acquaintance
of. [Obs.]
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Syn: Familiarity; intimacy; fellowship; knowledge.
Usage: {Acquaintance}, {Familiarity}, {Intimacy}. These words
mark different degrees of closeness in social
intercourse. Acquaintance arises from occasional
intercourse; 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.
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Our admiration of a famous man lessens upon our
nearer acquaintance with him. --Addison.
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We contract at last such a familiarity with them
as makes it difficult and irksome for us to call
off our minds. --Atterbury.
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It is in our power to confine our friendships
and intimacies to men of virtue. --Rogers.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
2000.
:
Look at other dictionaries:
acquaintance — [ə kwānt′ ns] n. 1. knowledge (of something) gotten from personal experience or study of it [an intimate acquaintance with the plays of Jonson] 2. the state or relation of being acquainted (with someone) 3. a person or persons whom one knows, but … English World dictionary
acquaintance — (n.) c.1300, state of being acquainted; late 14c., person with whom one is acquainted; also personal knowledge; from O.Fr. acointance acquaintance, friendship, familiarity, noun of action from acointer (see ACQUAINT (Cf. acquaint)). Acquaintant… … Etymology dictionary
acquaintance — [n1] a person known informally associate, association, colleague, companion, contact, friend, neighbor; concept 423 Ant. stranger acquaintance [n2] knowledge of something through experience awareness, cognizance, conversance, familiarity,… … New thesaurus
acquaintance — and description … Philosophy dictionary
acquaintance — index cognition, experience (background), knowledge (awareness) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
acquaintance — *friend, intimate, confidant Analogous words: *associate, companion, comrade, crony Contrasted words: *stranger, outsider … New Dictionary of Synonyms
acquaintance — ► NOUN 1) familiarity with or knowledge of someone or something. 2) a person one knows slightly … English terms dictionary
acquaintance — n. familiarity 1) to have an acquaintance with (he has some acquaintance with statistics) 2) a slight, superficial acquaintance 3) on acquaintance (on closer acquaintance he proved to be a nice person) 4) an acquaintance with casual friendship 5) … Combinatory dictionary
acquaintance — ac|quaint|ance [əˈkweıntəns] n ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(somebody you know)¦ 2¦(relationship)¦ 3 make somebody s acquaintance 4¦(knowledge)¦ 5 of your acquaintance 6 on first acquaintance ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1.) ¦(SOMEBODY YOU KNOW)¦ someone you know, but who is not a… … Dictionary of contemporary English
acquaintance — noun 1 person you know ADJECTIVE ▪ casual ▪ I ran into a casual acquaintance in town. ▪ new ▪ close, old ▪ business … Collocations dictionary
