acquittance

C2+ Topic:Money & Finance

US /əˈkwɪtəns/ UK /əˈkwɪtəns/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a written release confirming a debt or obligation has been discharged

He kept the acquittance as proof the loan was fully paid.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a written release... receipt release dischargequittanceacknowledgment

Word family

Related forms acquitquittance

Etymology

From Old French aquitance ('discharge, release'), from aquiter ('to settle, release'), from Medieval Latin acquitare, from Latin ad- ('to') + quietus ('free, at rest').

aquitance Old French quietus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Money & Finance

External links

# acquittance

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /əˈkwɪtəns/
**IPA (UK):** /əˈkwɪtəns/

## Meanings
1. a written release confirming a debt or obligation has been discharged

## Examples
- He kept the acquittance as proof the loan was fully paid.

## Synonyms
- receipt
- release
- discharge
- quittance
- acknowledgment

## Related Forms
- acquit
- quittance

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: aquitance
- Root: quietus

## Etymology
From Old French aquitance ('discharge, release'), from aquiter ('to settle, release'), from Medieval Latin acquitare, from Latin ad- ('to') + quietus ('free, at rest').

## AI Etymology
acquittance comes from Old French aquitance ('discharge, release'), from aquiter ('to settle, release'), from Medieval Latin acquitare, from Latin ad- ('to') + quietus ('free, at rest'). Morphologically, the word is transparent as a compound: its parts remain visible in the modern spelling, while the older history of those parts supplies the deeper ancestry. In modern use, the noun sense is "a written release confirming a debt or obligation has been discharged", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as acquit, quittance, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Old French aquitance, Latin quietus, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- Money & Finance

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