ACQUAINT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does acquaint mean? 

• ACQUAINT (verb)
  The verb ACQUAINT has 3 senses:

1. cause to come to know personally

2. make familiar or conversant with

3. inform

  Familiarity information: ACQUAINT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ACQUAINT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they acquaint    ... he / she / it acquaints   
Past simple: acquainted   
Past participle: acquainted   
-ing form: acquainting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to come to know personally

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

acquaint; introduce; present

Context example:

introduce the new neighbors to the community

Hypernyms (to "acquaint" is one way to...):

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Verb group:

acquaint; familiarise; familiarize (make familiar or conversant with)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "acquaint"):

re-introduce; reintroduce (introduce anew)

present (formally present a debutante, a representative of a country, etc.)

bring out; introduce (bring before the public for the first time, as of an actor, song, etc.)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

acquaintance (personal knowledge or information about someone or something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make familiar or conversant with

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

acquaint; familiarise; familiarize

Context example:

We familiarized ourselves with the new surroundings

Hypernyms (to "acquaint" is one way to...):

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Verb group:

acquaint; introduce; present (cause to come to know personally)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "acquaint"):

orient (familiarize (someone) with new surroundings or circumstances)

verse (familiarize through thorough study or experience)

get into (familiarize oneself thoroughly with)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody with something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Inform

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

Please acquaint your colleagues of your plans to move

Hypernyms (to "acquaint" is one way to...):

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody PP

 Context examples 

He seemed to want to be acquainted with her.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

The holiday allowed to the Miss Bertrams the next day, on purpose to afford leisure for getting acquainted with, and entertaining their young cousin, produced little union.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

“Why, I am intimately acquainted with them!”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

However, I have determined; I think I am right; I think you ought to be made acquainted with Mr Elliot's real character.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

The Professor said:—"I may, I suppose, take it that we are all acquainted with the facts that are in these papers."

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

It just happened, however, that this hour coincided with Blessington’s constitutional, which seems to show that they were not very well acquainted with his daily routine.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"And you—you ain't never fed 'm after them first days of gettin' acquainted. I'm blamed if I can see how he works it out that you're the boss."

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Impossible, Mr. Bennet, impossible, when I am not acquainted with him myself; how can you be so teasing?

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

He's a capital fellow, and I wish we could get acquainted.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Am I never to be acquainted with him?

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)