Acquaintancy

/əˈkweɪntənsi/ noun

Definition

The state of being acquainted; knowledge or familiarity with someone or something obtained through meeting or experience.

Etymology

From acquaintance with the variant suffix -cy (Latin -cia), which creates abstract nouns denoting states or conditions. Similar to how 'fraudulent' becomes 'fraudulency,' -cy changes adjectives and nouns into abstract state nouns.

Kelly Says

Acquaintancy is an older, more formal word for what we'd usually call 'acquaintance' today—you'll see it in historical literature and legal documents where writers were more likely to use formal variants like this!

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