Acknowledge

How to spell acknowledge

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce acknowledge

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does acknowledge mean?

1. verbTo accept or admit that something is true, or to confirm that something has been received or noticed.

Acknowledge in a sentence

• The manager was quick to acknowledge the team's hard work on the project.

• Please acknowledge this email so we know the files arrived safely.

Where does acknowledge come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word grew on native English soil rather than being borrowed wholesale. Its heart is the Old English verb cnawan, meaning 'to know or recognise', the same root that gives us 'know' and 'knowledge'. In Middle English a verb knowlechen developed, meaning 'to confess or admit that one knows something'. By the fifteenth century an intensifying prefix from Old English on- or a- was fastened to the front, producing aknowlechen and then acknowledge, sharpening the sense to 'openly recognise or admit'. The spelling trap is exactly that buried structure: the silent middle of 'know' survives inside the word, so writers must remember the c-k-n cluster and the soft -dge ending even though the sound gives little warning. It is a useful memory hook to see the ordinary word 'know' sitting plainly in the centre of acknowledge.

How the word is built

• ac- (intensive prefix, from Old English on-/a-)
• know (recognise, be aware of)
• -ledge (verb-forming element related to 'lay' and to the noun knowledge)