Acknowledging

How to spell acknowledging

13 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce acknowledging

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does acknowledging mean?

1. verbAccepting or admitting the truth or existence of something, or formally recognising a person or contribution.

Acknowledging in a sentence

• The manager began by acknowledging the team's hard work on the project.

• She wrote back acknowledging that the invoice had been paid in full.

Where does acknowledging come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends from the Middle English verb 'knowlechen', meaning 'to recognise' or 'to admit', which itself joined the Old English 'cnawan' (to know) with the noun suffix '-leche' that signalled an action or condition. The little 'ac-' at the front is a worn-down form of an older prefix related to 'on' or 'to', so the whole word literally pictured the act of bringing something into recognition. By the late 1400s the spelling 'acknowledge' had settled, carrying the modern sense of openly admitting or formally recognising a fact, a person, or a debt. The present participle 'acknowledging' simply adds '-ing' to that base. The spelling trap lives in the silent middle: the 'k' after the 'c' is never sounded, and the 'dge' captures the soft 'j' sound, both inherited straight from the word's Old English ancestor 'know'.

How the word is built

• ac- (variant of a-, on/to)
• know (to recognise)
• -ledge (from Middle English -leche, a noun-forming element)
• -ing (present participle)