What does acquaint mean?
Word: Acquaint
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Acquaint means to make someone familiar with something or someone; to be acquainted with a person is to know them a little.
Synonyms: familiarise, inform, introduce
Word origin: Comes from Old French acointier 'to make known', from Latin accognitare, based on cognoscere 'to get to know'.
How do you spell acquaint?
Syllables: ac - quaint
Tricky part: A silent c sits before the qu. Many students write aquaint because they hear no c.
Watch out for: aquaint, acquant, accquaint
Memory tip: Acquire and acquaint belong to one family: each hides a c you cannot hear before qu.
Acquaint in a sentence
Example 1: The new coach took a week to acquaint himself with every player.
Example 2: Please acquaint our visitors with the fire exits before the show.
Example 3: I am acquainted with her brother, but I don't know her well.
Fun Fact
Acquaint is a cousin of quaint, which once meant clever or wise; both go back to Latin cognitus, known.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) aqueduct
b) acqaint
c) acquiesce
d) acquire
Show answer
b) acqaint. Acquaint needs the u after q, as almost every English q does; aqueduct is right without a c.
Word Fusion
Choose the two parts that make the word that matches the meaning:
______ means a person you know slightly but who is not a close friend. 1. acquaint 2. acquire 3. ance 4. ence 5. ment 6. ion
a) 2 and 6
b) 1 and 3
c) 1 and 4
d) 2 and 5
Show answer
b) 1 and 3. The person you know slightly is an acquaintance, and that noun ends in ance.
Word Champ
Choose the correct word for the blank:
Before the trek, the forest guard took an hour to ___ the students with the rules of the camp.
a) acquaint
b) acquire
c) achieve
d) accomplish
Show answer
a) acquaint. Only acquaint goes with 'with' to mean make someone familiar with something.
Spell Probe
One word in the sentence is misspelt. Choose the meaning of that word:
The guide took a few minutes to acquaint the visitors with the history of the old fort before the musium tour began.
a) a strong building made to protect a place
b) the study of past events
c) to make someone familiar with something
d) a building where objects of historical or artistic interest are kept
Show answer
d) a building where objects of historical or artistic interest are kept. Musium should be museum, with eu; acquaint is spelt correctly here.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A new pupil spends her first week getting acquainted with the school. She is ___.
a) preparing for her exams
b) asking to change class
c) learning her way around
d) choosing her best friends
Show answer
c) learning her way around
2. Someone who is 'well acquainted with London' ___.
a) dislikes the city
b) knows the city well
c) has never been there
d) was born in Paris
Show answer
b) knows the city well
