Added 9 October 2026
acknowledge
/əkˈnɒl.ɪd͡ʒ/ verb
In Latin: agnoscō, fateor Wiktionary
verb Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about acknowledge at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
-
Declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of.
He admitted his errors
-
Report the receipt of.
The program committee acknowledged the submission of the authors of the paper
-
Express recognition of the presence or existence of, or acquaintance with.
He never acknowledges his colleagues when they run into him in the hallway
Origin
Recorded since 1553, a blend of Middle English aknowen (“to recognize, acknowledge”) and knowlechen (“to discover, reveal, acknowledge”). The former verb is from Old English oncnāwan, ācnāwan (“to know, recognize, acknowledge”), from on + cnāwan (“to know”). The latter is derived from the noun at hand in knowledge. For the formation compare Latin agnōscō and Russian призна́ть (priznátʹ), with cognate roots. The /k/-sound was preserved by being redistributed to the preceding syllable: /əˈkn-/ > /əkˈn-/. The -c- was inserted accordingly to reflect this pronunciation more clearly.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)