ac·quain·tance

(ə-kwān′təns)

a. Knowledge of a person acquired by a relationship less intimate than friendship.

b. A relationship based on such knowledge: struck up an acquaintance with our new neighbor.

2. A person whom one knows.

3. Knowledge or information about something or someone: has a passing acquaintance with Chinese history.

Idiom:

make (someone's) acquaintance

To meet someone for the first time: I made his acquaintance at a business conference.

ac·quain′tance·ship′ n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

acquaintance

(əˈkweɪntəns)

1. a person with whom one has been in contact but who is not a close friend

2. knowledge of a person or thing, esp when slight

3. make the acquaintance of to come into social contact with

4. those persons collectively whom one knows

5. (Philosophy) philosophy the relation between a knower and the object of his knowledge, as contrasted with knowledge by description (esp in the phrase knowledge by acquaintance)

acˈquaintanceˌship n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ac•quaint•ance

(əˈkweɪn tns)

n.

1. a person known to one, but usu. not a close friend.

2. the state of being acquainted.

3. personal knowledge as a result of study, experience, etc.

4. (used with a pl. v.) the persons with whom one is acquainted.

Also, ac•quaint′ance•ship` (for defs. 2,3).

[1250–1300; Middle English < Old French]

syn: acquaintance, associate, companion, friend refer to a person with whom one is in contact. An acquaintance is a person one knows, though not intimately: a casual acquaintance at school. An associate is a person who is often in one's company, usu. because of some work or pursuit in common: a business associate. A companion is a person who shares one's activities or fortunes; the term usu. suggests a familiar relationship: a traveling companion; a companion in despair. A friend is a person with whom one is on intimate terms and for whom one feels a warm affection: a trusted friend.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	acquaintance - personal knowledge or information about someone or something conversance, conversancy, familiarity information - knowledge acquired through study or experience or instruction
	2.	acquaintance - a relationship less intimate than friendship acquaintanceship relationship - a state involving mutual dealings between people or parties or countries
	3.	acquaintance - a person with whom you are acquainted; "I have trouble remembering the names of all my acquaintances"; "we are friends of the family" friend individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul - a human being; "there was too much for one person to do" bunkmate - someone who occupies the same sleeping quarters as yourself campmate - someone who lives in the same camp you do connection - (usually plural) a person who is influential and to whom you are connected in some way (as by family or friendship); "he has powerful connections" end man - a man at one end of a row of people homeboy - a male friend from your neighborhood or hometown messmate - (nautical) an associate with whom you share meals in the same mess (as on a ship) pickup - a casual acquaintance; often made in hope of sexual relationships class fellow, classmate, schoolfellow, schoolmate - an acquaintance that you go to school with stranger, unknown, alien - anyone who does not belong in the environment in which they are found stranger - an individual that one is not acquainted with

acquaintance

noun

1. associate, contact, ally, colleague, comrade, confrère He exchanged a few words with the man, an old acquaintance of his.
associate good friend, intimate, buddy, main man (slang, chiefly U.S.)

2. relationship, association, exchange, connection, intimacy, fellowship, familiarity, companionship, social contact, cognizance, conversance, conversancy He becomes involved in a real murder mystery through his acquaintance with a police officer.
relationship ignorance, unfamiliarity

Quotations
"Should auld acquaintance be forgot,"
"And never brought to mind?" [Robert Burns Auld Lang Syne]
"I look upon every day to be lost, in which I do not make a new acquaintance" [Dr. Johnson]
"acquaintance: a person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to" [Ambrose Bierce The Devil's Dictionary]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

acquaintance

noun

1. A person whom one knows casually:

friend.

2. Personal knowledge derived from participation or observation:

experience, familiarity.

Translations

أحَد مَعَارِف المَرْءمَعْرِفَة بِ

známýznalost

bekendtkendskab

Bekannte Bekannter Bekanntschaft Kenntnis

γνωριμία γνώση γνωστός

conocido

tuttavatuttu

connaissance relation abord

poznanicapoznanikpoznanstvo

ismeretismerõs

kunningiòekking

conoscenza conoscente cognizione

kennis bekende bekendheid

bekjent bekjentskap kjenning kjennskap

знакомство знакомый знакомая

známy

znanec

bildik bilgi tanıdık

了解泛泛之交相识的人

acquaintance

[əˈkweɪntəns] N

1. (with person) → relación f; (with subject etc) → conocimiento m
to make sb's acquaintance → conocer a algn
I am very glad to make your acquaintance → tengo mucho gusto en conocerlo
a plumber of my acquaintance → un fontanero que conozco
I don't have the honour of her acquaintance → no tengo el honor de conocerla
it improves on acquaintance → mejora a medida que lo vas conociendo
on closer or further acquaintance it seems less attractive → al conocerlo mejor tiene menos atracción
to renew (one's) acquaintance with sb → reanudar la amistad con algn
see also nod C4

2. (= person) → conocido/a m/f
an acquaintance of mine → un conocido mío
we're just acquaintances → nos conocemos ligeramente nada más
we're old acquaintances → nos conocemos desde hace tiempo
to have a wide circle of acquaintances → conocer a muchas personas

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

acquaintance

[əˈkweɪntəns] n

(= person) → connaissance f acquaintance rape

(= knowledge of someone or something) → connaissance f
to have little acquaintance with sth → être peu au fait de qch
to make sb's acquaintance → faire la connaissance de qn
to strike up an acquaintance with sb → lier connaissance avec qn
a person of my acquaintance → une personne de ma connaissanceacquaintance rape n viol dont l'auteur est connu de la victime

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

acquaintance

(= person) → Bekannte(r) mf; we’re just acquaintances → wir kennen uns bloß flüchtig; a wide circle of acquaintances → ein großer Bekanntenkreis

(with person) → Bekanntschaft f; (with subject etc) → Kenntnis f (→ with +gen); (intimate, with sorrow etc) → Vertrautheit f; to make somebody’s acquaintance, to make the acquaintance of somebody → jds Bekanntschaft machen; a woman of our acquaintance → eine uns bekannte Dame; I have some acquaintance with Italian wines → ich kenne mich mit italienischen Weinen einigermaßen aus; it improves on acquaintance → man kommt mit der Zeit auf den Geschmack (davon); perhaps he’ll improve on acquaintance → vielleicht gefällt er uns etc besser, wenn wir etc ihn erst einmal näher kennenlernen ? nodding

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

acquaintance

[əˈkweɪnt/əns] n

a. (with person, subject) acquaintance (with) → conoscenza (di)
to make sb's acquaintance → fare la conoscenza di qn
it improves on acquaintance → più lo si conosce e più lo si apprezza

b. (person) → conoscente m/f, conoscenza
a business acquaintance → una conoscenza di lavoro
an acquaintance of mine → un mio conoscente

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

acquaint

(əˈkweint) verb

1. to make (usually oneself) familiar (with). You must acquaint yourself with the routine of the office.

2. to inform (a person) of. Have you acquainted her with your plans?

acquaintance noun

1. a person whom one knows slightly.

2. (with with) knowledge. My acquaintance with the works of Shakespeare is slight.

be acquainted with

to know or be familiar with. I'm not acquainted with her father.

make someone's acquaintance

to get to know someone. I made her acquaintance when on holiday in France.

acquaintance

n. conocimiento; trato; [person] un conocido, una conocida.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

A fortnight's acquaintance is certainly very little.

View in context

Your cousin is an acquaintance of mine, Mrs Miller."

View in context

The Shtcherbatskys made the acquaintance too of the family of an English Lady Somebody, and of a German countess and her son, wounded in the last war, and of a learned Swede, and of M.

View in context

It is remarkable, however, that she neither insisted on Catherine's writing by every post, nor exacted her promise of transmitting the character of every new acquaintance, nor a detail of every interesting conversation that Bath might produce.

View in context

I make lots of acquaintances. I know an American as soon as I see him--and so I speak to him and make his acquaintance.

View in context

He had not much intercourse with any families beyond that circle; his horror of late hours, and large dinnerparties, made him unfit for any acquaintance but such as would visit him on his own terms.

View in context

In every meeting of the kind Willoughby was included; and the ease and familiarity which naturally attended these parties were exactly calculated to give increasing intimacy to his acquaintance with the Dashwoods, to afford him opportunity of witnessing the excellencies of Marianne, of marking his animated admiration of her, and of receiving, in her behaviour to himself, the most pointed assurance of her affection.

View in context

My mother's odd way of making acquaintance with you."

View in context

This friend, and Sir Walter, did not marry, whatever might have been anticipated on that head by their acquaintance. Thirteen years had passed away since Lady Elliot's death, and they were still near neighbours and intimate friends, and one remained a widower, the other a widow.

View in context

Exhausted by the importunity of their son and touched by the dowry which Fraulein Hedwig's father offered, the lieutenant's parents had consented to pass through Heidelberg to make the young woman's acquaintance. The interview was satisfactory and Fraulein Hedwig had the satisfaction of showing her lover in the Stadtgarten to the whole of Frau Professor Erlin's household.

View in context

Coulson was not a man whose acquaintance it was difficult to make.

View in context

That young men travel under some tutor, or grave servant, I allow well; so that he be such a one that hath the language, and hath been in the country before; whereby he may be able to tell them what things are worthy to be seen, in the country where they go; what acquaintances they are to seek; what exercises, or discipline, the place yieldeth.

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