different between inkling vs acquaintance

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /???kl??/
• Hyphenation: inkl?ing

Etymology 1

From Middle English ningkiling, nyngkiling (“hint, slight indication; mention, whisper”), and then either:

• possibly a variant of nikking, nyckyng (“hint, slight indication; mention, whisper”), possibly from nikken (“to mark (a text) for correction (?)”) + -ing, -inge (suffix forming gerunds from verbs); or
• from inklen (“to mention (in a low voice); to tell (the truth)”) [and other forms] + -ing, -inge; inklen may be derived from inca, inke (“dread, fear; doubt; danger, risk (?)”), from Old English inca (“doubt, uncertainty; suspicion; fear; cause for complaint, grievance, grudge, ill-will, offence; quarrel; occasion, opportunity”), from Proto-Germanic *inkô (“ache; grief; regret”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?eng-, *yen?- (“illness”). The English word would then be analysable as inkle +? -ing.

Sense 3 (“desire, inclination”) may have been influenced by incline (“to tend to believe or do something”) or French enclin (“inclined, prone”).

Noun

inkling (plural inklings)

1. Usually preceded by forms of to give: a slight hint, implication, or suggestion given.

   Synonym: intimation
2. Often preceded by forms of to get or to have: an imprecise idea or slight knowledge of something; a suspicion.
3. (Britain, dialectal) A desire, an inclination.

Translations

Etymology 2

From inkle +? -ing.

Verb

inkling

1. present participle of inkle

References

Anagrams

• kilning, klining, linking

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman aquaintaunce, aqueintance, Old French acointance (“friendship, familiarity”), from Old French acointer (“to acquaint”). Compare French accointance.

Morphologically acquaint +? -ance.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??kwe?nt?ns/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??kwe?n.t?ns/

Noun

acquaintance (countable and uncountable, plural acquaintances)

1. (uncountable) A state of being acquainted with a person; originally indicating friendship, intimacy, but now suggesting a slight knowledge less deep than that of friendship; acquaintanceship. [from 12th c.]

   I know of the man; but have no acquaintance with him.

   • 1799, William Jones (translator), Hito'pade'sa, in The Works, Volume 6, page 22:

     Contract no friend?hip, or even acquaintance, with a guileful man : he re?embles a coal, which when hot burneth the hand, and when cold blacketh it.

2. (countable) A person or persons with whom one is acquainted. [from 14th c.]
3. (uncountable) Such people collectively; one's circle of acquaintances (with plural concord). [from 15th c.]
   • 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Penguin 2004, p. 230:

     Their mother […] was busy in the mean time in keeping up her connections, as she termed a numerous acquaintance, lest her girls should want a proper introduction into the great world.

4. Personal knowledge (with a specific subject etc.). [from 16th c.]

Usage notes

• Synonym notes: The words acquaintance, familiarity, and intimacy now mark different degrees of closeness in social intercourse. Acquaintance arises from occasional intercourse or interaction; 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".

Synonyms

• familiarity, fellowship, intimacy, knowledge
• See also Thesaurus:acquaintance

Derived terms

• nodding acquaintance
• renew acquaintances

Related terms

• acquaint

Translations

References

• acquaintance in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• acquaintance at OneLook Dictionary Search