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acknowledgment

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

14 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "acknowledgment", 14-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "acknowledgment" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "acknowledgment" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

acknowledgment is aEnglishnoun. It means: The act of acknowledging Pronounced /əkˈnɒl.ɪd͡ʒ.mənt/.

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Key facts for acknowledgment
PropertyValue
Headwordacknowledgment
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əkˈnɒl.ɪd͡ʒ.mənt/
Letters14
Frequency rank#24,972
Misspellings tracked23
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of acknowledgment in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for acknowledgment is 14 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əkˈnɒl.ɪd͡ʒ.mənt/. Corpus data places it at rank #24,972 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 23 documented wrong-spelling variants for acknowledgment, with forms such as "accknowledgment", "ackknowledgment", and "acknnowledgment". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, 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, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From acknowledge + -ment. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is acknowledgment, spelled A-C-K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-M-E-N-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of acknowledging
  2. 2
    The act of recognizing in a particular character or relationship; recognition of existence, authority, truth, or genuineness.
  3. 3
    A reward or other expression or token of gratitude.
  4. 4
    An expression of gratitude for a benefit or an obligation.
  5. 5
    A message from the addressee informing the originator that the originator's communication has been received and understood.
  6. 6
    A response (ACK) sent by a receiver to indicate successful receipt of a transmission (See Wikipedia article on transmission).
  7. 7
    A recognition as genuine or valid; an avowing or admission in legal form.
  8. 8
    The act of a person admitting a child as their own.
  9. 9
    A formal statement or document recognizing the fulfillment or execution of a legal requirement or procedure.

Etymology

From acknowledge + -ment.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: accknowledgment,ackknowledgment,acknnowledgment,acknolwedgment,acknoweldgment,acknowldegment,acknowleddgment,acknowledgemnt,acknowledggment,acknowledgmennt,acknowledgmentt,acknowledgmetn,acknowledgmment,acknowledgmnet,acknowledmgent,acknowlegdment,acknowlledgment,acknowwledgment,acknwoledgment,ackonwledgment,acnkowledgment,akcnowledgment,caknowledgment

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for acknowledgment

Misspelling Variants of "acknowledgment"

accknowledgment15ackknowledgment15acknnowledgment15acknolwedgment14acknoweldgment14acknowldegment14acknowleddgment15acknowledgemnt14
Misspelling Variants of "acknowledgment"

Frequency rank: #24,972 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "acknowledgment"?
"acknowledgment" is spelled A-C-K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-M-E-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is /əkˈnɒl.ɪd͡ʒ.mənt/.
What does "acknowledgment" mean?
As a noun, "acknowledgment" means: The act of acknowledging
What are common misspellings of "acknowledgment"?
Common misspellings include "accknowledgment", "ackknowledgment", "acknnowledgment", "acknolwedgment", "acknoweldgment". The correct spelling is "acknowledgment".
How do you pronounce "acknowledgment"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "acknowledgment" is /əkˈnɒl.ɪd͡ʒ.mənt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "acknowledgment"?
From acknowledge + -ment. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter A in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.