acquaintance meaning
acquaintance :
friend, contact
noun
▪ She is a friendly acquaintance of mine.
▪ She is a friendly friend of mine.
▪ I met him through an acquaintance at work.
▪ I met him through a contact at work.
paraphrasing
▪ associate – contact
▪ contact – person you know
Pronunciation
acquaintance [əˈkweɪntəns]
The word has the stress on the second syllable 'quaint' and sounds like 'uh-kweyn-tuhns'.
Common phrases and grammar about acquaintance
acquaintance - Common meaning
noun
friend, contact
Part of Speech Changes for "acquaintance"
▪ acquaint (verb) – to make someone know something or someone
▪ acquainted (adjective) – knowing someone or something
▪
▪
Common Expressions with "acquaintance"
▪ casual acquaintance – someone you know but not well
▪ new acquaintance – someone you recently met
▪ mutual acquaintance – someone that both you and another person know
▪ business acquaintance – someone you know through work
Important examples of acquaintance in TOEIC
Vocabulary examples from the TOEIC test
In TOEIC Part 5, ‘acquaintance’ is used to refer to someone you know casually, not a close friend.
Example of a confusing word: colleague (a coworker)
Grammar examples from the TOEIC test
In TOEIC grammar questions, ‘acquaintance’ is used as a singular noun and often requires the correct article.
acquaintance
Idioms and fixed expressions in TOEIC
business acquaintance
means 'a work-related contact', used when talking about professional relationships.
old acquaintance
means 'someone you have known for a long time', used when referring to long-term acquaintances.
Differences between similar words and acquaintance
acquaintance
,
friend
differences
'Friend' is someone you have a close and personal relationship with, while 'acquaintance' is someone you know but are not close to.
acquaintance
,
associate
differences
'Associate' refers to someone connected professionally or in a group, not necessarily a personal friend, whereas 'acquaintance' is a general term for someone you know.
Words with the same origin as acquaintance
The origin of acquaintance
'Acquaintance' originated from the verb 'acquaint', meaning to make familiar.
Word structure
It has the prefix 'ac-' (to), root 'quaint' (known), and suffix '-ance' (noun), so 'acquaintance' means 'the state of being known'.
Words with the same origin
The root of 'acquaintance' is 'cogn' (to know). Words with the same root include 'cognition', 'recognize', 'cognitive', and 'incognito'.
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