ACQUAI'NTANCE, noun 1. Familiar knowledge; a state of being acquainted, or of having intimate or more than slight or superficial knowledge; as, I know the man, but have no acquaintance with him. Sometimes it denotes a more slight knowledge. 2. A person or persons well known; usually persons we have been accustomed to see and converse with; sometimes, persons more slightly known. Lover and friend has thou put far from me and mine acquaintance into darkness. Psalms 88:8. My acquaintance are estranged from me. Job 19:13. Acquaintances, in the plural is used, as applied to individual persons known; but more generally, acquaintance is used for one or more. Acquaintant, in a like sense, is not used.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI