acknowledge

1. 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”

   Synonymsadmit

   Broaderdeclare

   Narrowerattornwrite offmake no bones aboutsustainconcedeconfessavow
2. 2.

   report the receipt of

   “The program committee acknowledged the submission of the authors of the paper”

   Synonymsreceipt

   Broadercommunicate
3. 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”

   Synonymsnotice

   Broaderreact

   Narrowermention
4. 4.

   express obligation, thanks, or gratitude for

   “We must acknowledge the kindness she showed towards us”

   Synonymsrecognizerecognise

   Broaderthank

   Narrowerappreciate
5. 5.

   accept as legally binding and valid

   “acknowledge the deed”

   Broaderaccept
6. 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”

   Synonymsrecognizerecogniseknow

   Broaderaccept

Other forms of acknowledge

past tense

acknowledged·

present participle

acknowledging·

third person

acknowledges·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about acknowledge

What does acknowledge mean?

acknowledge means "declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of". That is the primary sense; the word has 6 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in acknowledge?

acknowledge has 3 syllables: ack-now-ledge. The stress falls on "now". In IPA it is /ækˈnɑlɪdʒ/.

What is another word for acknowledge?

Close synonyms include admit, receipt, notice, recognize, recognise. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is acknowledge a common word?

acknowledge is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.