Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AC-KNOWL'EDG-MENT, n.

1. The act of owning; confession; as, the acknowledgment of a fault.
2. The owning, with approbation, or in the true character; as, the acknowledgment of a God, or of a public minister.
3. Concession; admission of the truth; as, of a fact, position, or principle.
4. The owning of a benefit received, accompanied with gratitude; and hence it combines the idea of an expression of thanks. Hence, it is used also for something given or done in return for a favor.
5. A declaration or avowal of one's own act, to give it legal validity; as, the acknowledgment of a deed before a proper officer. Acknowledgment-money, in some parts of England, is a sum paid by tenants, on the death of their landlords, as an acknowledgment of their new lords. – Encyc.