acquaint

/əˈkweɪnt/

//əˈkweɪnt// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"acquaint" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“acquaint” is uncommon English (frequency #52,128 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,128
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To furnish or give experimental knowledge of; to make (one) know; to make familiar.

Corpus desk

Index EN-acquaint · acquaint · English

acquaint · rank #52,128 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,128
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH accusative

Nearest frequency peer: accusative (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “acquaint”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “acquaint” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for acquaint
PropertyValue
Headwordacquaint
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/əˈkweɪnt/
Letters8
Frequency rank#52,128
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “acquaint” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).acquaintfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “accusative” (#52,127), “abstention” (#52,126), “admonition” (#52,130). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “acquaint” is #52,128. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

acquaint is uncommon English at frequency #52,128 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /əˈkweɪnt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for acquaint in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English aqueynten, acointen, from Old French acointier, from Early Medieval Latin accognitāre, from Late Latin accognitus, past participle of accognoscō, from Latin cognoscō, from nōscō. See also quaint, know. The correct English form is acquaint, spelled A-C-Q-U-A-I-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    To furnish or give experimental knowledge of; to make (one) know; to make familiar.
  2. 2
    To communicate notice to; to inform; let know.
  3. 3
    To familiarize; to accustom.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how acquaint appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I think you should acquaint him with the realities of the situation.
  2. He is despised and reiected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefe: and we hid as it were our faces from him; hee was despised, and wee esteemed him not.

Etymology

From Middle English aqueynten, acointen, from Old French acointier, from Early Medieval Latin accognitāre, from Late Latin accognitus, past participle of accognoscō, from Latin cognoscō, from nōscō. See also quaint, know.

Synonyms

familiarizeadviseappriseinformto familiarizeto accustom

This word in other languages

familiarizar(Español)mitteilen(Deutsch)familiarizar(Português)

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

How do you spell "acquaint"?
"acquaint" is spelled A-C-Q-U-A-I-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈkweɪnt/.
What does "acquaint" mean?
As a verb, "acquaint" means: To furnish or give experimental knowledge of; to make (one) know; to make familiar.
How do you pronounce "acquaint"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "acquaint" is /əˈkweɪnt/. 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 "acquaint"?
From Middle English aqueynten, acointen, from Old French acointier, from Early Medieval Latin accognitāre, from Late Latin accognitus, past participle of accognoscō, from Latin cognoscō, from nōscō. See also quaint, know. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "acquaint", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Adolphus#52,131Antigone#52,148Arbroath#52,154Atalanta#52,157

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list