Acquaints

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To introduce a person to someone else while enhancing their familiarity with both the individual and the relevant context involved
2. To enhance someone's knowledge of a particular person or concept by making introductions or sharing information
3. Causes someone to become informed or knowledgeable about a person or subject through introduction or explanation

Etymology: "Acquaints" is the third-person singular form of "acquaint," so the verb itself is the story. "Acquaint" came into Middle English as "aqueynten" or "acointen," borrowed from Old French "acointier," which meant to make known or to make familiar. Behind that stood Early Medieval Latin "accognitare," a verb built on the prefix "ad-" and the Latin "cognoscere," to know, so the core idea has always been bringing knowledge to someone. The English word has kept that sense of making something known to a person, which is exactly what "acquaints" does when it tells someone about a fact or event. The word shares its ancestry with "quaint," which came from the same Latin root through Old French, and it is the older English relative of "know," which traces back to the same source.

Synonyms: informs, introduces, familiarizes

Antonyms: unfamiliarizes