What's in a name?
6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Acquaintance \Ac*quaint"ance\, noun [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.

Contract no friendship, or even acquaintance, with a guileful man. --Sir W. Jones.

2. A person or persons with whom one is acquainted.

Montgomery was an old acquaintance of Ferguson. --Macaulay.

Note: 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.

{To be of acquaintance}, to be intimate.

{To take acquaintance of} or {with}, to make the acquaintance of. [Obs.]

Syn: Familiarity; intimacy; fellowship; knowledge.

Usage: {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.

Our admiration of a famous man lessens upon our nearer acquaintance with him. --Addison.

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

It is in our power to confine our friendships and intimacies to men of virtue. --Rogers.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Accredit \Ac*cred"it\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Accredited}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Accrediting}.] [F. accr['e]diter; ['a] (L. ad) + cr['e]dit credit. See {Credit}.]

1. To put or bring into credit; to invest with credit or authority; to sanction.

His censure will . . . accredit his praises. --Cowper.

These reasons . . . which accredit and fortify mine opinion. --Shelton.

2. To send with letters credential, as an ambassador, envoy, or diplomatic agent; to authorize, as a messenger or delegate.

Beton . . . was accredited to the Court of France. --Froude.

3. To believe; to credit; to put trust in.

The version of early Roman history which was accredited in the fifth century. --Sir G. C. Lewis.

He accredited and repeated stories of apparitions and witchcraft. --Southey.

4. To credit; to vouch for or consider (some one) as doing something, or (something) as belonging to some one.

{To accredit} (one) {with} (something), to attribute something to him; as, Mr. Clay was accredited with these views; they accredit him with a wise saying.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

With \With\, preposition [OE. with, AS. wi? with, against; akin to AS. wi?er against, OFries. with, OS. wi?, wi?ar, D. weder, we[^e]r (in comp.), G. wider against, wieder gain, OHG. widar again, against, Icel. vi? against, with, by, at, Sw. vid at, by, Dan. ved, Goth. wipra against, Skr. vi asunder. Cf. {Withdraw}, {Withers}, {Withstand}.] With denotes or expresses some situation or relation of nearness, proximity, association, connection, or the like. It is used especially:



1. To denote a close or direct relation of opposition or hostility; -- equivalent to against.

Thy servant will . . . fight with this Philistine. --1 Sam. xvii. 32.

Note: In this sense, common in Old English, it is now obsolete except in a few compounds; as, withhold; withstand; and after the verbs fight, contend, struggle, and the like.

2. To denote association in respect of situation or environment; hence, among; in the company of.

I will buy with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following; but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you. --Shak.

Pity your own, or pity our estate, Nor twist our fortunes with your sinking fate. --Dryden.

See where on earth the flowery glories lie; With her they flourished, and with her they die. --Pope.

There is no living with thee nor without thee. --Tatler.

Such arguments had invincible force with those pagan philosophers. --Addison.

3. To denote a connection of friendship, support, alliance, assistance, countenance, etc.; hence, on the side of.

Fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee. --Gen. xxvi. 24.

4. To denote the accomplishment of cause, means, instrument, etc; -- sometimes equivalent to by.

That with these fowls I be all to-rent. --Chaucer.

Thou wilt be like a lover presently, And tire the hearer with a book of words. --Shak.

[He] entertained a coffeehouse with the following narrative. --Addison.

With receiving your friends within and amusing them without, you lead a good, pleasant, bustling life of it. --Goldsmith.

5. To denote association in thought, as for comparison or contrast.

Can blazing carbuncles with her compare. --Sandys.

6. To denote simultaneous happening, or immediate succession or consequence.

With that she told me . . . that she would hide no truth from me. --Sir P. Sidney.

With her they flourished, and with her they die. --Pope.

With this he pointed to his face. --Dryden.

7. To denote having as a possession or an appendage; as, the firmament with its stars; a bride with a large fortune. ''A maid with clean hands.'' --Shak.

Note: With and by are closely allied in many of their uses, and it is not easy to lay down a rule by which to distinguish their uses. See the Note under {By}.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

With \With\, noun See {Withe}.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Withe \Withe\ (?; 277), noun [OE. withe. ????. See {Withy}, noun] [Written also {with}.]

1. A flexible, slender twig or branch used as a band; a willow or osier twig; a withy.

2. A band consisting of a twig twisted.

3. (Naut.) An iron attachment on one end of a mast or boom, with a ring, through which another mast or boom is rigged out and secured; a wythe. --R. H. Dana, Jr.

4. (Arch.) A partition between flues in a chimney.

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

74 Moby Thesaurus words for "with": about, added to, along with, amid, amidst, among, amongst, as well as, at, at all costs, at any cost, attended by, by, by dint of, by means of, by use of, by virtue of, by way of, coupled with, despite, even with, for, from, hereby, herewith, in, in addition to, in agreement with, in association with, in company with, in conjunction with, in cooperation with, in despite of, in favor of, in keeping with, in line with, in spite of, in there with, in virtue of, including, inclusive of, irregardless, irrespective of, let alone, linked to, mid, midst, near, next to, not to mention, on, over and above, partnered with, per, plus, pro, regardless, regardless of, regardless of cost, right with, spite of, thanks to, thereby, therewith, through, to, together on, together with, toward, upon, via, whereby, wherewith, wherewithal

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