Crossword clues for acquaintance
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Acquaintance \Ac*quaint"ance\, n. [OE. aqueintance, OF. acointance, fr. acointier. See Acquaint.]
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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. -
A person or persons with whom one is acquainted.
Montgomery was an old acquaintance of Ferguson.
--Macaulay.Note: 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.
To take acquaintance of or with, to make the acquaintance of. [Obs.]
Syn: Familiarity; intimacy; fellowship; knowledge.
Usage: 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.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
c.1300, "state of being acquainted;" late 14c., "person with whom one is acquainted;" also "personal knowledge;" from Old French acointance "acquaintance, friendship, familiarity," noun of action from acointer (see acquaint). Acquaintant (17c.), would have been better in the "person known" sense but is now obsolete.
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context uncountable English) 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 2 (context countable English) A person or persons with whom one is acquainted.
WordNet
n. personal knowledge or information about someone or something [syn: familiarity, conversance, conversancy]
a relationship less intimate than friendship [syn: acquaintanceship]
a person with whom you are acquainted; "I have trouble remembering the names of all my acquaintances"; "we are friends of the family" [syn: friend]
Wikipedia
Usage examples of "acquaintance".
At her house I made the acquaintance of several gamblers, and of three or four frauleins who, without any dread of the Commissaries of Chastity, were devoted to the worship of Venus, and were so kindly disposed that they were not afraid of lowering their nobility by accepting some reward for their kindness--a circumstance which proved to me that the Commissaries were in the habit of troubling only the girls who did not frequent good houses.
I left Russia with the actress Valville, and I must here tell the reader how I came to make her acquaintance.
Clerval, the actor, had been gathering together a company of actors at Paris, and making her acquaintance by chance and finding her to be intelligent, he assured her that she was a born actress, though she had never suspected it.
To these qualifications let us add his affability and pliant disposition, and then the reader will not wonder that he was looked upon as the pattern of human perfection, and his acquaintance courted accordingly.
For the first time in their brief acquaintance, it occurred to Alec that Thero must be a Watcher, too.
She rose hastily, and after she had begged an acquaintance to tell Alette and Harald that a mere headache compelled her to leave the dance, she hurried by the wood-path back to Semb.
Our worthy acquaintance Mr Malachi Mulligan now appeared in the doorway as the students were finishing their apologue accompanied with a friend whom he had just rencountered, a young gentleman, his name Alec Bannon, who had late come to town, it being his intention to buy a colour or a cornetcy in the fencibles and list for the wars.
The Archdeacon, ignorant that this question was being asked, strolled happily on between his two acquaintances, and with them turned up the drive to Cully.
There were no wires overhead--no sound of life or movement except, here and there, there passed slowly to and fro human figures dressed in the same asbestos clothes as my acquaintance, with the same hairless faces, and the same look of infinite age upon them.
I venture to say that if one should count the Ifs and the Ases in the conversation of his acquaintances, he would find the more able and important persons among them--statesmen, generals, men of business-- among the Ases, and the majority of the conspicuous failures among the Ifs.
He sounded more human and was displaying more animation, Asey thought, than he had at any time during their acquaintance.
Then he turning himselfe, embraced and kissed him, and desired the Gentleman, who was one of his acquaintance, to sit downe by him : and Diophanes being astonied with this sudden change, forgot what he was doing, and sayd, O deare friend you are heartily welcome, I pray you when arrived you into these parts?
During this time she was visited by physicians, attended by nurses, and received constant messages from her acquaintance to enquire after her health.
Sir--During the last day or two several of the more Intelligent of my acquaintances have suggested that The Avenger, whoever he may be, must be known to a certain number of persons.
I received the congratulations of the baili upon the excellent acquaintances I had already made, and M.