different between allow vs acknowledge

English

Etymology

From Middle English allowen, alowen, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman allouer, alouer, from Medieval Latin allaud?re, present active infinitive of allaud?, merged with alouer, from Medieval Latin alloc? (“to assign”). The similarity with Middle English alyfen (from Old English ?l?fan, ?l?efan) and German erlauben, both from Proto-Germanic *uzlaubijan? (“to allow”) is coincidental.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??la?/
• enPR: ?-lou'
• Rhymes: -a?

Verb

allow (third-person singular simple present allows, present participle allowing, simple past and past participle allowed)

1. (transitive) To grant, give, admit, accord, afford, or yield; to let one have.
2. (transitive) To acknowledge; to accept as true; to concede; to accede to an opinion.
3. (transitive) To grant (something) as a deduction or an addition; especially to abate or deduct.

4. (transitive) To grant license to; to permit; to consent to.
5. To not bar or obstruct.
6. (transitive) To take into account by making an allowance.

7. (transitive) To render physically possible.
8. (transitive, obsolete) To praise; to approve of; hence, to sanction.
9. (obsolete) To sanction; to invest; to entrust.
10. (transitive, obsolete) To like; to be suited or pleased with.

Synonyms

• allot, assign, bestow, concede, admit, let, permit, suffer, tolerate

Derived terms

Related terms

• allowance
• disallow

Translations

References

• allow in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

English

Alternative forms

• acknowledg (obsolete)
• acknowelege (obsolete)

Etymology

Recorded since 1553, a blend of Middle English knowlechen (“to discover, reveal, acknowledge”) and aknowen (“to recognize, acknowledge”); the latter from Old English oncn?wan, ?cn?wan (“to know, recognize, acknowledge”), from on + cn?wan (“to know”). Notice the preservation of /k/ word-internally (regularly spelled with ck as in back) while being lost word-initially. The prefix might have been influenced by Anglo-Norman a- (“on-, to-”). See knowledge.

For the formation compare Latin agn?sc? and Russian ????????? (priznát?), with cognate roots.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k?n?.l?d?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /æk?n??.l?d?/, [?k?n??l?d?], [?k?n??l?d?], [???n??l?d?], [???n??l?d?]
• Hyphenation US: ac?knowl?edge, UK: ac?know?ledge

Verb

acknowledge (third-person singular simple present acknowledges, present participle acknowledging, simple past and past participle acknowledged)

1. (transitive) To admit the knowledge of; to recognize as a fact or truth; to declare one's belief in
   • 1611, King James Version, Psalm 51:3

     I acknowledge my transgressions.

   • 1849, Thomas Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James II, Chapter 1

     For ends generally acknowledged to be good.
2. To own or recognize in a particular quality, character or relationship; to admit the claims or authority of; to give recognition to.
   • 1611, King James Version, Proverbs 3:6

     In all thy ways acknowledge Him.

   • c. 1595, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, III-v

     By my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee.

3. To be grateful of (e.g. a benefit or a favour)
4. To report (the receipt of a message to its sender).

5. To own as genuine or valid; to assent to (a legal instrument) to give it validity; to avow or admit in legal form.

Usage notes

• Acknowledge is opposed to keep back, or conceal, and supposes that something had been previously known to us (though perhaps not to others) which we now feel bound to lay open or make public. Thus, a man acknowledges a secret marriage; one who has done wrong acknowledges his fault; and author acknowledges his obligation to those who have aided him; we acknowledge our ignorance.
• Recognize supposes that we have either forgotten or not had the evidence of a thing distinctly before our minds, but that now we know it (as it were) anew, or receive and admit it on the grounds of the evidence it brings. Thus, we recognize a friend after a long absence. We recognize facts, principles, truths, etc., when their evidence is brought up fresh to the mind. A foreign minister, consul, or agent, of any kind, is recognized on the ground of his producing satisfactory credentials.
• See also confess

Synonyms

• avow, proclaim, recognize, own, admit, allow, concede, confess

Derived terms

Related terms

• acknowledgment

Translations

References

• acknowledge in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.