acknowledge
Part of speech: verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: Recorded since 1553, a blend of Middle English aknowen (“to recognize, acknowledge”) and knowlechen (“to discover, reveal, acknowledge”). The former verb is from Old English oncnāwan, ācnāwan (“to know, recognize, acknowledge”), from on + cnāwan (“to know”). The latter is derived from the noun at hand in knowledge. For the formation compare Latin agnōscō and Russian призна́ть (priznátʹ), with cognate roots.
The /k/-sound was preserved by being redistributed to the preceding syllable: /əˈkn-/ > /əkˈn-/. The -c- was inserted accordingly to reflect this pronunciation more clearly.
Inflected forms:
form: acknowledges
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: acknowledging
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: acknowledged
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: acknowledged
pos: verb
tags: past
form: acknowledg
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: acknowelege
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: aknowledge
pos: verb
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: acknowlege
pos: verb
tags: alternative
misspelling
Senses:
gloss: To admit the knowledge of; to recognize as a fact or truth; to declare one's belief in.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: to acknowledge the being of a god
I acknowledge my transgressions.
[T]he charge of my moſt curious, and coſtly ingredients fraide, amounting to ſome ſeaventeene thouſand crovvnes, a trifle in reſpect of health, vvriting your noble name in my Catalogue, I ſhall acknovvledge my ſelfe amply ſatisfi'd.
For ends generally acknowledged to be good.
[N]ow ſuch a liue vngodly, vvithout a care of doing the wil of the Lord (though they profeſſe him in their mouths, yea though they beleeue and acknowledge all the Articles of the Creed, yea haue knowledge of the Scripturs) yet if they liue vngodly, they deny God, and therefore ſhal be denied, […]
Addison: Pathfinder, you're making a mistake.
Ryder: Maybe. But at least I'm willing to acknowledge it.
gloss: To own or recognize in a particular quality, character or relationship; to admit the claims or authority of; to give recognition to.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: By my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him.
Such an episode in the Island's grand naval story her naval historians naturally abridge; one of them (G.P.R. James) candidly acknowledging that fain would he pass it over did not "impartiality forbid fastidiousness."
He is calmed down only when the bearer of the beard “unbeards,” and acknowledges himself as Asher's old pal: […]
gloss: To be grateful of (e.g. a benefit or a favour)
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: to acknowledge a favor
They his gifts acknowledged none.
gloss: To report (the receipt of a message to its sender).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: This is to acknowledge your kind invitation to participate in the upcoming debate.
gloss: To own as genuine or valid; to assent to (a legal instrument) to give it validity; to avow or admit in legal form.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: One who has been sheriff may acknowledge a deed executed by him while in office.
Related words: acknowledgment
Derived words: acknowledgeable
acknowledged
acknowledger
acknowledge the corn
disacknowledge
misacknowledge
preacknowledge
reacknowledge
unacknowledge
Translations:
lang: Arabic
word: شَكَرَ
roman: šakara
lang: Bulgarian
word: признателен съм
roman: priznatelen sǎm
lang: Dutch
word: erkentelijk zijn
lang: Dutch
word: erkennen
lang: Finnish
word: kiittää
lang: Galician
word: recoñecer
lang: Ancient Greek
word: νομίζω
roman: nomízō
lang: Old English
word: oncnāwan
lang: Portuguese
word: reconhecer
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: priznati