Adjacent Words

Acknowledge definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ACKNOWL'EDGE, v.t. Aknol'edge, [ad and knowledge. See Know.]
1. To own, avow or admit to be true, by a declaration of assent; as to acknowledge the being of a God.
2. To own or notice with particular regard.
In all thy ways acknowledge God. Proverbs 3. Isaiah 33.
3. To own or confess, as implying a consciousness of guilt.
I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Psalms 51 and 32.
4. To own with assent; to admit or receive with approbation.
He that acknowledgeth the son, hath the father also.
1 John 2. 2 Timothy 2.
5. To own with gratitude; to own as a benefit; as, to acknowledge a favor, or the receipt of a gift.
Thy his gifts acknowledged not.
6. To own or admit to belong to; as, to acknowledge a son.
7. To receive with respect.
All that see them shall acknowledge that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. Isaiah 6. 1 Corinthians 16.
8. To own, avow or assent to an act in a legal form, to give it validity; as, to acknowledge a deed before competent authority.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of; "He admitted his errors"; "She acknowledged that she might have forgotten" [syn: admit, acknowledge] [ant: deny]
2: report the receipt of; "The program committee acknowledged the submission of the authors of the paper" [syn: acknowledge, receipt]
3: express recognition of the presence or existence of, or acquaintance with; "He never acknowledges his colleagues when they run into him in the hallway"; "She acknowledged his complement with a smile"; "it is important to acknowledge the work of others in one's own writing" [syn: notice, acknowledge]
4: express obligation, thanks, or gratitude for; "We must acknowledge the kindness she showed towards us" [syn: acknowledge, recognize, recognise]
5: accept as legally binding and valid; "acknowledge the deed"
6: accept (someone) to be what is claimed or accept his power and authority; "The Crown Prince was acknowledged as the true heir to the throne"; "We do not recognize your gods" [syn: acknowledge, recognize, recognise, know]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (-edged; -edging) Etymology: ac- (as in accord) + knowledge Date: 15th century 1. to recognize the rights, authority, or status of 2. to disclose knowledge of or agreement with 3. a. to express gratitude or obligation for <acknowledge a gift> b. to take notice of <failed to acknowledge my greeting> c. to make known the receipt of <acknowledge a letter> 4. to recognize as genuine or valid <acknowledge a debt> Synonyms: acknowledge, admit, own, avow, confess mean to disclose against one's will or inclination. acknowledge implies the disclosing of something that has been or might be concealed <acknowledged an earlier peccadillo>. admit implies reluctance to disclose, grant, or concede and refers usually to facts rather than their implications <admitted the project was over budget>. own implies acknowledging something in close relation to oneself <must own I know little about computers>. avow implies boldly declaring, often in the face of hostility, what one might be expected to be silent about <avowed that he was a revolutionary>. confess may apply to an admission of a weakness, failure, omission, or guilt <confessed a weakness for sweets>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 a recognize; accept; admit the truth of (acknowledged the failure of the plan). b (often foll. by to be + compl.) recognize as (acknowledged it to be a great success). c (often foll. by that + clause or to + infin.) admit that something is so (acknowledged that he was wrong; acknowledged him to be wrong). 2 confirm the receipt of (acknowledged her letter). 3 a show that one has noticed (acknowledged my arrival with a grunt). b express appreciation of (a service etc.). 4 own; recognize the validity of (the acknowledged king). Derivatives: acknowledgeable adj. Etymology: obs. KNOWLEDGE v. after obs. acknow (as A-(4), KNOW), or f. obs. noun acknowledge

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Acknowledge Ac*knowl"edge, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Acknowledged; p. pr. & vb. n. Acknowledging.] [Prob. fr. pref. a- + the verb knowledge. See Knowledge, and cf. Acknow.] 1. To of or admit the knowledge of; to recognize as a fact or truth; to declare one's belief in; as, to acknowledge the being of a God. I acknowledge my transgressions. --Ps. li. 3. For ends generally acknowledged to be good. --Macaulay. 2. To own or recognize in a particular character or relationship; to admit the claims or authority of; to give recognition to. In all thy ways acknowledge Him. --Prov. iii. 6. By my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee. --Shak. 3. To own with gratitude or as a benefit or an obligation; as, to acknowledge a favor, the receipt of a letter. They his gifts acknowledged none. --Milton. 4. To own as genuine; to assent to, as a legal instrument, to give it validity; to avow or admit in legal form; as, to acknowledgea deed. Syn: To avow; proclaim; recognize; own; admit; allow; concede; confess. Usage: Acknowledge, Recognize. Acknowledge is opposed to keep back, or conceal, and supposes that something had been previously known to us (though perhaps not to others) which we now feel bound to lay open or make public. Thus, a man acknowledges a secret marriage; one who has done wrong acknowledges his fault; and author acknowledges his obligation to those who have aided him; we acknowledge our ignorance. Recognize supposes that we have either forgotten or not had the evidence of a thing distinctly before our minds, but that now we know it (as it were) anew, or receive and admit in on the ground of the evidence it brings. Thus, we recognize a friend after a long absence. We recognize facts, principles, truths, etc., when their evidence is brought up fresh to the mind; as, bad men usually recognize the providence of God in seasons of danger. A foreign minister, consul, or agent, of any kind, is recognized on the ground of his producing satisfactory credentials. See also Confess.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(acknowledges, acknowledging, acknowledged) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If you acknowledge a fact or a situation, you accept or admit that it is true or that it exists. (FORMAL) Naylor acknowledged, in a letter to the judge, that he was a drug addict... Belatedly, the government has acknowledged the problem... There is an acknowledged risk of lung cancer from radon. = recognize VERB: V that, V n, V-ed 2. If someone's achievements, status, or qualities are acknowledged, they are known about and recognized by a lot of people, or by a particular group of people. He is also acknowledged as an excellent goal-keeper... Some of the clergy refused to acknowledge the new king's legitimacy. = recognize VERB: be V-ed as n, V n, also V n to-inf 3. If you acknowledge a message or letter, you write to the person who sent it in order to say that you have received it. The army sent me a postcard acknowledging my request. VERB: V n 4. If you acknowledge someone, for example by moving your head or smiling, you show that you have seen and recognized them. He saw her but refused to even acknowledge her. VERB: V n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ak-nol'-ej (gignosko): To declare that one recognizes the claims of a person or thing fully established. Both in Old Testament and New Testament expressed by various forms of the word "know" (Pr 3:6; Isa 61:9; Col 2:2 the King James Version). The Psalmist (Ps 32:5) "acknowledged" his sin, when he told God that he knew the guilt of what he had done. The Corinthians (2Co 1:14) "acknowledged" Paul and his companions when they formally recognized their claims and authority.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Recognize, take cognizance of, be aware of, hold in remembrance. 2. Admit, grant, concede, allow, accept, indorse, subscribe to, agree to. 3. Confess, own, avow, profess. 4. Express gratitude for, give thanks for. 5. Own or admit the validity of.

Moby Thesaurus

accept, account for, accredit with, accrete to, admit, admit everything, affirm, agree, agree provisionally, allege, allow, announce, answer, answer back, apply to, ascribe to, assent grudgingly, asseverate, assign to, attach to, attest, attribute to, aver, avouch, avow, bear the expense, bear witness, blame, blame for, blame on, bless, bring home to, certify, charge on, charge to, chip in, come back, come back at, come clean, concede, confess, connect with, consider, cop a plea, credit, credit with, declare, deem, defray, defray expenses, depone, depose, disclose, divulge, echo, express general agreement, fasten upon, father upon, finance, fix on, fix upon, flash back, foot the bill, fund, give acknowledgment, give answer, give credit, give evidence, give thanks, go Dutch, go along with, grant, hang on, hold, honor a bill, impute to, lay to, let on, make acknowledgments of, not oppose, offer thanks, open up, out with it, own, own up, pay for, pay the bill, pay the piper, pin on, pinpoint, place upon, plead guilty, point to, proclaim, publish, react, receive, recognize, redeem, reecho, refer to, rejoin, render credit, render thanks, reply, respond, retort, return, return answer, return for answer, return thanks, reveal, reverberate, riposte, saddle on, saddle with, say, say in reply, set down to, settle upon, shoot back, spill, spill it, spit it out, stand the costs, swear, talk back, tell, tell all, tell the truth, testify, thank, view, vouch, warrant, witness, yield