New dated letters from Northumberland.
Shak.
3. To familiarize; to accustom. [Obs.]
Evelyn.
To be acquainted with, to be possessed of personal knowledge of; to be cognizant of; to be more or less familiar with; to be on terms of social intercourse with.
Syn. Ð To inform; apprise; communicate; advise.
AcÏquaint¶aÏble (#), a. [Cf. OF. acointable. Easy to be acquainted with; affable. [Obs.]
Rom. of R.
AcÏquaint¶ance (#), n. [OE. aqueintance, OF. acointance, fr. acointier. See Acquaint.] 1. A state of being acquainted, or of having intimate, or more than slight or superficial, knowledge; personal knowledge gained by intercourse short of that of friendship or intimacy; as, I know the man; but have no acquaintance with him.
Contract no friendship, or even acquaintance, with a guileful man.
Sir W. Jones.
2. A person or persons with whom one is acquainted.
Montgomery was an old acquaintance of Ferguson.
Macaulay.
µ In this sense the collective term acquaintance was formerly both singular and plural, but it is now commonly singular, and has the regular plural acquaintances.
To be of acquaintance, to be intimate. Ð To take acquaintance of or with, to make the acquaintance of. [Obs.]
Syn. Ð Familiarity; intimacy; fellowship; knowledge. Ð Acquaintance, Familiarity, Intimacy. These words mark different degrees of closeness in social intercourse. Acquaintance arises from occasional intercourse; as, our acquaintance has been a brief one. We can speak of a slight or an intimate acquaintance. Familiarity is the result of continued acquaintance. It springs from persons being frequently together, so as to wear off all restraint and reserve; as, the familiarity of old companions. Intimacy is the result of close connection, and the freest interchange of thought; as, the intimacy of established friendship.
Our admiration of a famous man lessens upon our nearer acquaintance with him.
Addison.
We contract at last such a familiarity with them as makes it difficult and irksome for us to call off our minds.
Atterbury.
It is in our power to confine our friendships and intimacies to men of virtue.
Rogers.
AcÏquaint¶anceÏship, n. A state of being acquainted; acquaintance.
Southey.
AcÏquaint¶ant (#), n. [Cf. F. acointant, p. pr.] An acquaintance. [R.]
Swift.
AcÏquaint¶ed, a. Personally known; familiar. See To be acquainted with, under Acquaint, v. t.
AcÏquaint¶edÏness, n. State of being acquainted; degree of acquaintance. [R.]
Boyle.
AcÏquest¶ (#), n. [OF. aquest, F. acquˆt, fr. LL. acquestum, acquisÆtum, for L. acquisÆtum, p. p. (used substantively) of acquirere to acquire. See Acquire.]
1. Acquisition; the thing gained. [R.]
Bacon.
2. (Law) Property acquired by purchase, gift, or otherwise than by inheritance.
Bouvier.
Ac·quiÏesce¶ (#), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Acquiesced (#); p. pr. & vb. n. Acquiescing (#)] [ L. acquiescere; ad + quiescere to be quiet, fr. quies rest: cf. F. acquiescer. See Quiet.] 1. To rest satisfied, or apparently satisfied, or to rest without opposition and discontent (usually implying previous opposition or discontent); to accept or consent by silence or by omitting to object; Ð followed by in, formerly also by with and to.
They were compelled to acquiesce in a government which they did not regard as just.
De Quincey.
2. To concur upon conviction; as, to acquiesce in an opinion; to assent to; usually, to concur, not heartily but so far as to forbear opposition.
Syn. Ð To submit; comply; yield; assent; agree; consent; accede; concur; conform; accept tacitly.
Ac·quiÏes¶cence (#), n. [Cf. F. acquiescence.]
1. A silent or passive assent or submission, or a submission with apparent content; Ð distinguished from avowed consent on the one hand, and on the other, from opposition or open discontent; quiet satisfaction.
2. (Crim. Law) (a) Submission to an injury by the party injured. (b) Tacit concurrence in the action of another.
Wharton.
p. 17
Ac·quiÏes¶cenÏcy (#), n. The quality of being acquiescent; acquiescence. Ac· quiÏes¶cent (#), a. [L. acquiescens, Ï?entis; p. pr.] Resting satisfied or submissive; disposed tacitly to submit; assentive; as, an acquiescent policy. Ac·quiÏes¶centÏly, adv. In an acquiescent manner. AcÏqui¶et (#), v. t. [LL. acquietare; L. ad + quies rest. See Quiet and cf. Acquit.] To quiet. [Obs.] Acquiet his mind from stirring you against your own peace. Sir A. Sherley. AcÏquir¶aÏbil¶iÏty (#), n. The quality of being acquirable; attainableness. [R.] Paley. AcÏquir¶aÏble (#), a. Capable of being acquired. AcÏquire¶ (#), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Acquired (#); p. pr. & vb. n. Acquiring (#).] [L. acquirere, acquisitum; ad + quarere to seek for. In OE. was a verb aqueren, fr. the same, through OF. aquerre. See Quest..] To gain, usually by one's own exertions; to get as one's own; as, to acquire a title, riches, knowledge, skill, good or bad habits. No virtue is acquired in an instant, but step by step. Barrow. Descent is the title whereby a man, on the death of his ancestor, acquires his estate, by right of representation, as his heir at law. Blackstone. Syn. Ð To obtain; gain; attain; procure; win; earn; secure. See Obtain. AcÏquire¶ment (#), n. The act of acquiring, or that which is acquired; attainment. ½Rules for the acquirement of a taste.¸ Addison. His acquirements by industry were … enriched and enlarged by many excellent endowments of nature. Hayward. Syn. Ð Acquisition, Acquirement. Acquirement is used in opposition to a natural gift or talent; as, eloquence, and skill in music and painting, are acquirements; genius is the gift or endowment of nature. It denotes especially personal attainments, in opposition to material or external things gained, which are more usually called acquisitions; but this distinction is not always observed. AcÏquir¶er (#), n. A person who acquires. AcÏquir¶y (#), n. Acquirement. [Obs.] Barrow. Ac¶quiÏsite (#), a. [L. acquisitus, p. p. of acquirere. See Acquire.] Acquired. [Obs.] Burton. Ac·quiÏsi¶tion (#), n. [L. acquisitio, fr. acquirere: cf. F. acquisition. See Acquire.] 1. The act or process of acquiring. The acquisition or loss of a province. Macaulay. 2. The thing acquired or gained; an acquirement; a gain; as, learning is an acquisition. Syn. Ð See Acquirement. AcÏquis¶iÏtive (#), a. 1. Acquired. [Obs.] He died not in his acquisitive, but in his native soil. Wotton. 2. Able or disposed to make acquisitions; acquiring; as, an acquisitive person or disposition. AcÏquis¶iÏtiveÏly, adv. In the way of acquisition. AcÏquis¶iÏtiveÏness, n. 1. The quality of being acquisitive; propensity to acquire property; desire of possession. 2. (Phren.) The faculty to which the phrenologists attribute the desire of acquiring and possessing. Combe. AcÏquis¶iÏtor (#), n. One who acquires. AcÏquist¶ (#), n. [Cf. Acquest.] Acquisition; gain. Milton. AcÏquit¶ (#), p. p. Acquitted; set free; rid of. [Archaic] Shak. AcÏquit¶, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Acquitted; p. pr. & vb. n. Acquitting.] [OE. aquiten, OF. aquiter, F. acquitter; ? (L. ad) + OF. quiter, F. quitter, to quit. See Quit, and cf. Acquiet.] 1. To discharge, as a claim or debt; to clear off; to pay off; to requite. A responsibility that can never be absolutely acquitted. I. Taylor. 2. To pay for; to atone for. [Obs.] Shak. 3. To set free, release or discharge from an obligation, duty, liability, burden, or from an accusation or charge; Ð now followed by of before the charge, formerly by from; as, the jury acquitted the prisoner; we acquit a man of evil intentions. 4. Reflexively: (a) To clear one's self.k. (b) To bear or conduct one's self; to perform one's part; as, the soldier acquitted himself well in battle; the orator acquitted himself very poorly. Syn. Ð To absolve; clear; exonerate; exonerate; exculpate; release; discharge. See Absolve.