*quaint*

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Acquainted; p. pr. & vb. n. Acquainting. ] [ OE. aqueinten, acointen, OF. acointier, LL. adcognitare, fr. L. ad + cognitus, p. p. of cognoscere to know; con- + noscere to know. See Quaint, Know. ] 1. To furnish or give experimental knowledge of; to make (one) to know; to make familiar; -- followed by with. [ 1913 Webster ]

Before a man can speak on any subject, it is necessary to be acquainted with it. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Isa. liii. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To communicate notice to; to inform; to make cognizant; -- followed by with (formerly, also, by of), or by that, introducing the intelligence; as, to acquaint a friend with the particulars of an act. [ 1913 Webster ]

Acquaint her here of my son Paris' love. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

I must acquaint you that I have received
New dated letters from Northumberland. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To familiarize; to accustom. [ Obs. ] Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

To be acquainted with, to be possessed of personal knowledge of; to be cognizant of; to be more or less familiar with; to be on terms of social intercourse with. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To inform; apprise; communicate; advise. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. OF. acointable ]. Easy to be acquainted with; affable. [ Obs. ] Rom. of R. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. aqueintance, OF. acointance, fr. acointier. See Acquaint. ] 1. A state of being acquainted, or of having intimate, or more than slight or superficial, knowledge; personal knowledge gained by intercourse short of that of friendship or intimacy; as, I know the man; but have no acquaintance with him. [ 1913 Webster ]

Contract no friendship, or even acquaintance, with a guileful man. Sir W. Jones. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A person or persons with whom one is acquainted. [ 1913 Webster ]

Montgomery was an old acquaintance of Ferguson. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In this sense the collective term acquaintance was formerly both singular and plural, but it is now commonly singular, and has the regular plural acquaintances. [ 1913 Webster ]

To be of acquaintance, to be intimate. --
To take acquaintance of or
with, to make the acquaintance of. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Familiarity; intimacy; fellowship; knowledge. -- Acquaintance, Familiarity, Intimacy. These words mark different degrees of closeness in social intercourse. Acquaintance arises from occasional intercourse; as, our acquaintance has been a brief one. We can speak of a slight or an intimate acquaintance. Familiarity is the result of continued acquaintance. It springs from persons being frequently together, so as to wear off all restraint and reserve; as, the familiarity of old companions. Intimacy is the result of close connection, and the freest interchange of thought; as, the intimacy of established friendship. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our admiration of a famous man lessens upon our nearer acquaintance with him. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

We contract at last such a familiarity with them as makes it difficult and irksome for us to call off our minds. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is in our power to confine our friendships and intimacies to men of virtue. Rogers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A state of being acquainted; acquaintance. Southey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. acointant, p. pr. ] An acquaintance. [ R. ] Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Personally known; familiar. See To be acquainted with, under Acquaint, v. t. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. State of being acquainted; degree of acquaintance. [ R. ] Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. dis- + acquaint: cf. OF. desacointier. ] To render unacquainted; to make unfamiliar. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

While my sick heart
With dismal smart
Is disacquainted never. Herrick. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Neglect of disuse of familiarity, or familiar acquaintance. [ Obs. ] South. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Lack of acquaintance. Good. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Want of acquaintance; the state of being unacquainted. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To acquaint previously or beforehand. Fielding. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Previous acquaintance or knowledge. Harris. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. cognitus known, p. p. of cognoscere to know; con + noscere (for gnoscere) to know. See Know, and cf. Acquaint, Cognition. ] 1. Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Clerks be full subtle and full quaint. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Characterized by ingenuity or art; finely fashioned; skillfully wrought; elegant; graceful; nice; neat. [ Archaic ] “ The queynte ring.” “ His queynte spear.” Chaucer. “ A shepherd young quaint.” Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every look was coy and wondrous quaint. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

To show bow quaint an orator you are. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Curious and fanciful; affected; odd; whimsical; antique; archaic; singular; unusual; as, quaint architecture; a quaint expression. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some stroke of quaint yet simple pleasantry. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

An old, long-faced, long-bodied servant in quaint livery. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Quaint, Odd, Antique. Antique is applied to that which has come down from the ancients, or which is made to imitate some ancient work of art. Odd implies disharmony, incongruity, or unevenness. An odd thing or person is an exception to general rules of calculation and procedure, or expectation and common experience. In the current use of quaint, the two ideas of odd and antique are combined, and the word is commonly applied to that which is pleasing by reason of both these qualities. Thus, we speak of the quaint architecture of many old buildings in London; or a quaint expression, uniting at once the antique and the fanciful. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. cointise. ] 1. Craft; subtlety; cunning. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. R. of Glouces. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Elegance; beauty. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a quaint manner. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being quaint. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being unacquainted; want of acquaintance; ignorance. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was then in happy unacquaintance with everything connected with that obnoxious cavity. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Not acquainted. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not usual; unfamiliar; strange. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And the unacquainted light began to fear. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]