ikˈnälij, ak-, ək-, -ēj, -əj, Brit sometimes -ōl- verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: ac- (as in acknow ) + knowledge
transitive verb
1. : to show by word or act that one has knowledge of and agrees to (a fact or truth)
ends generally acknowledged to be good — T.B.Macaulay
: concede to be real or true
acknowledge that the bombing … was a mistake — Norman Cousins
: admit
2.
a. : to show by word or act that one has knowledge of and respect for the rights, claims, authority, or status of
acknowledge an important contribution to the work
: recognize, honor, or respect especially publicly
acknowledged him first citizen of the town
b. : to take notice of : indicate recognition and acceptance of
she acknowledged his greeting by a slight inclination of the head
3.
a. : to show by word or act that one has knowledge of and regard for (a duty, obligation, or indebtedness)
acknowledge their moral obligation to the people
: express or admit gratitude or obligation for (as a gift, favor, or obligation)
acknowledge his services
b. : to make known to a sender or giver the receipt of (what has been sent or given) or the fact of (one's having received what has been sent or given)
acknowledge a gift
acknowledge receipt of a letter
4. : to recognize as genuine : assent to (as a legal instrument) so as to give validity : avow or admit in legal form
acknowledge a deed
intransitive verb
: to indicate the receipt and understanding of a message
the pilot acknowledged by dipping the plane's wings
Synonyms:
admit , own , avow , confess : acknowledge indicates making known to others or recognizing to one's self what might be kept back, suppressed, or left uncertain, especially under the influence of stress, pressure, or persuasion
I was still smarting at his too candid criticism, all the more because in my heart I acknowledged its truth — W.H.Hudson
with a perversity which he acknowledged frankly, he imagined that he had been devoted to her — Jean Stafford
he started life as the illegitimate son of a Florentine lawyer and a woman of humble origin. His father acknowledged him — Stringfellow Barr
admit may be used in situations involving greater reluctance to make known, disclose, grant, or concede and greater stress or pressure
those in whom reason is weak are often unwilling to admit this as regards themselves, though all admit it in regard to others — Bertrand Russell
principally because of false pride few people will admit being apprehensive or airsick in flight and except in extreme circumstances these cases usually pass unnoticed — H.G.Armstrong
at last the government at Washington admitted its mistake — which governments seldom do — Willa Cather
own lacks any special suggestion about the manner or circumstances of an admission or aknowledgment but may apply to admissions having a certain closeness to the personality or individuality of whoever is making them
then let me own I'm an aesthetic sham — W.S.Gilbert
here we own to a little private preference — Olin Downes
I own that I had sustained myself through this journey on thoughts of the cheery welcome ahead — Elizabeth Bowen
avow suggests not unwilling disclosure but bold, firm declaration, with willingness to repeat or assert in the face of hostility
in a pamphlet defending his political activity, he avowed beliefs and displayed a fearlessness that were to make him a national figure thirty years later — F.W.Scott
let me avow at once that I enter this discussion as a layman speaking to laymen — J.S.Dickey
confess may apply to an acknowledgment, often reluctant, of a weakness, failure, omission, guilt, or sin
in his potterings over occultisms he was confessing the sterility of intellectual interests — V.L.Parrington
must I go on weakly confessing to you things a woman ought to conceal — Thomas Hardy
I confess myself guilty of this error — J.S.Kenyon
to confess a crime