Meaning

verb declare to be true or admit the existence or reality or truth of

verb report the receipt of

verb express recognition of the presence or existence of, or acquaintance with

originRecorded since 1553, a blend of Middle English aknowen (“to recognize, acknowledge”) and knowlechen (“to discover, reveal, acknowledge”). The former verb is from Old English oncnāwan, ācnāwan (“to know, recognize, acknowledge”), from on + cnāwan (“to know”). The latter is derived from the noun at hand in knowledge. For the formation compare Latin agnōscō and Russian призна́ть (priznátʹ), with…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0