acknowledge
/əkˈnɒl.ɪd͡ʒ/
"acknowledge" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“acknowledge” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,287 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #5,287
- frequency rank, English
- 11
- letters
- 17
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To admit the knowledge of; to recognize as a fact or truth; to declare one's belief in.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | acknowledge |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /əkˈnɒl.ɪd͡ʒ/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #5,287 |
| Misspellings tracked | 17 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “acknowledge” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for acknowledge is 11 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əkˈnɒl.ɪd͡ʒ/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,287 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for acknowledge, with forms such as "accknowledge", "ackknowledge", and "acknnowledge". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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 correct English form is acknowledge, spelled A-C-K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E.
Definition
- 1To admit the knowledge of; to recognize as a fact or truth; to declare one's belief in.
- 2To own or recognize in a particular quality, character or relationship; to admit the claims or authority of; to give recognition to.
- 3To be grateful of (e.g. a benefit or a favour)
- 4To report (the receipt of a message to its sender).
- 5To own as genuine or valid; to assent to (a legal instrument) to give it validity; to avow or admit in legal form.
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.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: accknowledge,ackknowledge,acknnowledge,acknolwedge,acknoweldge,acknowldege,acknowleddge,acknowledeg,acknowledgge,acknowlegde,acknowlledge,acknowwledge,acknwoledge,ackonwledge,acnkowledge,akcnowledge,caknowledge
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of acknowledge - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “acknowledge”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-C-K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əkˈnɒl.ɪd͡ʒ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.