acknowledgement

• HYPHEN: ac=knowl=edge=ment

CIDE DICTIONARY

acknowledgement, n. 

•  The act of acknowledging; admission; avowal; owning; confession.  Froude.  [1913 Webster]
•  The act of owning or recognizing in a particular character or relationship; recognition as regards the existence, authority, truth, or genuineness; a statement acknowledging something or someone.  [1913 Webster]

  "Immediately upon the acknowledgment of the Christian faith, the eunuch was baptized by Philip."  [1913 Webster]
•  The owning of a benefit received; courteous recognition; the state or quality of being recognized or acknowledged; an expression of thanks.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  Something given or done in return for a favor, message, etc.  Smollett.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

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.

Syn. -- Confession; concession; recognition; admission; avowal; recognizance.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

acknowledgement, n. (also acknowledgment)
1 the act or an instance of acknowledging.
2 a a thing given or done in return for a service etc. b a letter confirming receipt of something.
3 (usu. in pl.) an author's statement of indebtedness to others.