What does "acknowledgment" mean?

Acknowledgment: The act of owning or recognized in a particular character or relationship; recognition as regards the existence, authority, truth, or genuineness. Immediately upon the acknowledgment of the Christian faith, the eunuch was baptized by Philip. Hooker.

Additional senses

  1. 2.The owning of a benefit received; courteous recognition; expression of thanks. Shak.
  2. 3.Something given or done in return for a favor, message, etc. Smollett.
  3. 4.A declaration or avowal of one's own act, to give it legal validity; as, the acknowledgment of a deed before a proper officer. Also, the certificate of the officer attesting such declaration. Acknowledgment money, in some parts of England, a sum paid by copyhold tenants, on the death of their landlords, as an acknowledgment of their new lords. Cowell.

Sources