acknowledge
Syllables: ac·knowl·edgeUK/əkˈnɒl.ɪd͡ʒ//əkˈnɑ.lɪd͡ʒ/
acknowledge verb: to admit the knowledge of; to recognize as a fact or truth; to declare one's belief in.
Verb
acknowledge (third-person singular simple present acknowledges, present participle acknowledging, simple past and past participle acknowledged)
- To admit the knowledge of; to recognize as a fact or truth; to declare one's belief in.
- to acknowledge the being of a god
- I acknowledge my transgressions.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalm 51:3
- To own or recognize in a particular quality, character or relationship; to admit the claims or authority of; to give recognition to.
- By my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee.c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- In all thy ways acknowledge Him.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 3:6
- To be grateful of (e.g. a benefit or a favour)
- to acknowledge a favor
- They his gifts acknowledged none.1667, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- To report (the receipt of a message to its sender).
- This is to acknowledge your kind invitation to participate in the upcoming debate.
- To own as genuine or valid; to assent to (a legal instrument) to give it validity; to avow or admit in legal form.
- One who has been sheriff may acknowledge a deed executed by him while in office.1843, Thomas Isaac Wharton, A Digest of the Reported Cases Adjudged in the Several Courts Held in Pennsylvania, Together with Some Manuscript Cases
acknowledge meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
acknowledge in Hindi
- to admit the knowledge of
- स्वीकार करना svīkār karnā
acknowledge in Tamil
- ஒப்புக்கொள், ஒத்துக்கொள், ஏற்றுக்கொள், பெற்றுக்கொண்டதாக அறிவி, நன்றி தெரிவி, உண்மையென்று ஏற்றுக்கொள்
acknowledge in Marathi
- to acknowledge, confess, profess
- वदणे vadaṇe
acknowledge in Urdu
- اعتراف کرنا, اقرار کرنا, ماننا, قبول کرنا, تسلیم کرنا
More languagesFewer languages
- acknowledge in Bengali
- স্বীকার করা, সত্যতা স্বীকার করা, সারবত্তা স্বীকার করা, মানিয়া চলা
- acknowledge in Malayalam
- കിട്ടിയ വിവരം സമ്മതിക്കുക, ഏറ്റുപറയുക, വകവച്ചുകൊടുക്കുക, പ്രഖ്യാപനം ചെയ്യുക
- acknowledge in Kannada
- ಗುರುತಿಸು, ಒಪ್ಪಿಗೆ ತಿಳಿಸು
- acknowledge in Gujarati
- માનવું mānvũ
- acknowledge in Odia
- ସ୍ୱୀକାର କରିବା
- acknowledge in Sanskrit
- अभिज्ञा abhijñā, संज्ञा saṃjñā, वाह् vāh, जानाति jānā́ti
- acknowledge in Arabic
- شَكَرَ šakara
Examples of acknowledge in a sentence
- For ends generally acknowledged to be good.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter I, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify...
- He is calmed down only when the bearer of the beard “unbeards,” and acknowledges himself as Asher's old pal: […]2013, Tova Rosen, Unveiling Eve: Reading Gender in Medieval Hebrew Literature:
Synonyms of acknowledge
Forms of acknowledge
| third-person singular present | acknowledges |
|---|---|
| present participle | acknowledging |
| past participle | acknowledged |
| past | acknowledged |
| alternative misspelling | acknowlege |
| alternative form (obsolete) | acknowledg |
| alternative form (obsolete) | acknowelege |
| alternative form (obsolete) | aknowledge |
Origin of acknowledge
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.
Words formed from acknowledge
Words that rhyme with acknowledge
Questions about acknowledge
- What does acknowledge mean?
- Acknowledge means to admit the knowledge of; to recognize as a fact or truth; to declare one's belief in.
- What is acknowledge in Hindi?
- Acknowledge in Hindi is स्वीकार करना (svīkār karnā). See Acknowledge meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use acknowledge in a sentence?
- For ends generally acknowledged to be good.
- What part of speech is acknowledge?
- Acknowledge is a verb.
- How do you pronounce acknowledge?
- Acknowledge is pronounced /əkˈnɒl.ɪd͡ʒ/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of acknowledge?
- The past tense of acknowledge is acknowledged.
Words near acknowledge in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: acknowledge (page history and authors); acknowledge (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); वदणे (Marathi) (page history and authors); acknowledge (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); acknowledge (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); acknowledge (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); acknowledge (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); માનવું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); acknowledge (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); अभिज्ञा (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-acknowledge.ogg.
Cite this entry: “acknowledge.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/acknowledge. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.