To acquaint yourself with something means to get to know it or become familiar with it. When you acquaint yourself with a new neighborhood, you explore its streets, find out where the library and park are, and learn your way around. When a teacher acquaints students with a new topic, she introduces it so they understand the basics before diving deeper.

You might need to acquaint yourself with the rules before playing a new board game, or acquaint yourself with a recipe before trying to bake cookies. A science teacher might say, “Today we'll acquaint ourselves with the solar system,” meaning the class will learn enough about it to have a working understanding.

People also use acquaint when talking about introducing people to each other. If you acquaint your friend with your cousin, you're helping them meet and get to know each other. An acquaintance is someone you know slightly but not deeply, like a classmate you wave to in the hall but don't spend time with outside of school. Acquaintances are the people you're acquainted with but haven't become close friends with yet.