acknowledging

acknowledging is the present participle and gerund of acknowledg.

acknowledging is the present participle and gerund of acknowledge.

Adjective

acknowledging (comparative more acknowledging, superlative most acknowledging)

That acknowledges, in various sense; (especially) that notices or recognises someone or something.
(obsolete, specifically) Expressing esteem or gratitude.
- Miss Buddulph's answer […] is not a bad one, although you perhaps may think it too acknowledging for the female character.1748, [Samuel Richardson], chapter 2, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume I, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC

acknowledge (third-person singular simple present acknowledges, present participle acknowledging, simple past and past participle acknowledged)

(transitive) 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
Synonyms:

avow, recognize, admit
(transitive) 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...
Synonyms:

recognize, admit, allow, concede, confess, own, grant
(transitive) To be grateful of (e.g. a benefit or a favour)
- to acknowledge a favor
(transitive) To report (the receipt of a message to its sender).
- This is to acknowledge your kind invitation to participate in the upcoming debate.
(transitive) 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

acknowledging (plural acknowledgings)

(archaic) The act of acknowledging something.

Synonyms:

acknowledgement, knowledge

From acknowledge + -ing.

What does acknowledging mean?: Acknowledging means the act of acknowledging something.
What is acknowledging the present participle and gerund of?: Acknowledging is the present participle and gerund of acknowledg.
What part of speech is acknowledging?: Acknowledging can be a noun or an adjective.
What is the plural of acknowledging?: The plural of acknowledging is acknowledgings.

Adapted from Wiktionary: acknowledging (page history and authors); acknowledge (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “acknowledging.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/acknowledging. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.