Etymograph

English

acquaint

Acquaint comes from Old French acointier ‘get to know’, from Late Latin accognitus ‘recognized, known’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵneh₃-1‘to recognise’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵn̥h₃sḱéti1‘to recognise’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gnōskō1‘to know, get to know’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgnōscō1
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnōscō2‘to become acquainted with something, learn about it, to be aware of’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcognoscō2‘to learn, to get to know’next step skipped: Late Latin accognōscō
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEaccognitus2‘recognized, known’
  8. Early Medieval Latinmodernaccognitāre2
  9. Old Frenchc. 842–1400acointier2‘get to know’
  10. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aqueynten2
  11. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595acquaint2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin nosco
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English acquaint
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet: “Acquaint her here, of my Sonne Paris Loue,”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵneh₃-Wiktionary, Latin nosco‘to recognise’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵn̥h₃sḱétiWiktionary, Latin nosco‘to recognise’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gnōskōWiktionary, Latin nosco‘to know, get to know’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgnōscōWiktionary, Latin nosco
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnōscōWiktionary, English acquaint‘to become acquainted with something, learn about it, to be aware of’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcognoscōWiktionary, English acquaint‘to learn, to get to know’next step skipped: Late Latin accognōscō
  7. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEaccognitusWiktionary, English acquaint‘recognized, known’
  8. Early Medieval LatinmodernaccognitāreWiktionary, English acquaint
  9. Old Frenchc. 842–1400acointierWiktionary, English acquaint‘get to know’
  10. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aqueyntenWiktionary, English acquaint
  11. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595acquaintWiktionary, English acquaint. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet: “Acquaint her here, of my Sonne Paris Loue,”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to recognise’

can, know, could, normal, ignore, recognition, narrative, glory, con, ken, keen, norm, ignorant, prognosis, narration, cunning, canny, connoisseur, uncouth, canna, kith, gnosis, recognizance, cun, 84 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₃sḱéti ‘to recognise’

diagnostic, gnome, agnostic, 40 more

through Latin gnōscō

denote, annotation, noblesse, ignoble, 30 more

through Latin nōscō ‘to become acquainted with something, learn…’

note, notice, noble, notion, notorious, notation, nobility, cognition, notoriety, notary, annotate, 24 more

through Latin cognoscō ‘to learn, to get to know’

recognize, cognitive, incognito, cognizance, precognition, 14 more

Today it means

verb To furnish or give experimental knowledge of; to make (one) know; to make familiar.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “acquaint”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin nosco. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- / acquaint

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