acquire
Americanverb (used with object)
-
acquires,
present (3rd person singular)
-
acquired,
past participle, past
-
acquiring
present participle
-
to come into possession or ownership of; get as one's own.
to acquire property.
-
to gain for oneself through one's actions or efforts.
to acquire learning.
- Synonyms:
- appropriate, attain, earn, win
-
Linguistics. to achieve native or nativelike command of (a language or a linguistic rule or element).
-
Military. to locate and track (a moving target) with a detector, as radar.
verb
Usage
What does acquire mean? Acquire most commonly means to get, buy, or learn. Acquire has a lot of meanings that vary with context. Most of them refer to the act of getting something permanently. It has more specific meanings in linguistics and in the context of the military. It’s easy to misspell acquire as aquire, so don’t forget the c. Example: When the merger is complete, our company will have acquired its largest competitor.
Synonym Usage
See get.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
acquirabilitynoun
-
acquirementnoun
-
acquirernoun
-
preacquireverb
-
reacquireverb (used with object)
-
acquirableadjective
-
self-acquiredadjective
-
unacquirableadjective
-
unacquiredadjective
-
well-acquiredadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
acquiresimple
-
acquiressimple
-
have acquiredperfect
-
has acquiredperfect
-
am acquiringprogressive
-
are acquiringprogressive
-
is acquiringprogressive
-
have been acquiringperfect progressive
-
has been acquiringperfect progressive
Past
-
acquiredsimple
-
had acquiredperfect
-
was acquiringprogressive
-
were acquiringprogressive
-
had been acquiringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of acquire
First recorded in 1400–50; from Latin acquīrere “to add to one's possessions, acquire” ( ac- ac- + -quīrere, combining form of quaerere “to search for, obtain”); replacing late Middle English aquere, from Middle French aquerre, from Latin, as above
Explanation
To acquire means to get or come to own something. You acquire an education by your own effort. You acquire a painting by paying for it or by someone giving it to you. You acquire a sense of calm in crisis through experience. The list of things you can acquire includes: an object, a trait, a skill, or an ability. An acquired taste is something that people usually don't like when they first experience it, but later they come to enjoy it, such as raw clams or marmite. The verb acquire was borrowed from Latin acquīrere "to add to," from the prefix ad- "at, toward" plus quaerere "to seek, get."
Vocabulary lists containing acquire
List 4
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Frindle
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Boy: Tales of Childhood
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Fox announced in June its plans to acquire Roku for $22 billion, which would give the company access to Roku’s 100 million households that use its platform to connect to different streaming services.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Analog Devices agreed to acquire Alif Semiconductor for $1.35 billion in cash.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Those analysts said any effort by Walmart to create or acquire a streaming service would “represent a major strategic and cultural departure” for the company.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
The same machinery normally designed to make me acquire more has, in this case, made me more aware of what I can enjoy without acquiring at all.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
His findings were as follows: That falling bodies acquire speed as they fall.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Ms. Howard’s voice is convincing in many emotional modes, and acquires extra power because she is unconcerned with perfection.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Goldman Sachs sees opportunity and acquires ETF company Neos.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
If Paramount Skydance acquires Warner Bros., production will likely shift to the Warner Bros. lot, with Paramount leased or sold.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
The research expands on decades of work exploring how the brain acquires new abilities.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
I don’t refer merely to the glaring fact that the minister eventually acquires houses and Cadillacs while the faithful continue to scrub floors and drop their dimes and quarters and dollars into the plate.
From "The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin
European software investor Copilot Capital has acquired a majority stake in Green Eagle Solutions, which provides programs used to automate renewable energy operations, according to an emailed news release.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
IHH’s 31.1% stake in Fortis was acquired through a fresh 40 billion rupee capital injection, with no money paid directly to the former Fortis promoters, the Singh brothers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
For Lozano, acquired from San Diego on loan less than a month ago, the assist was his first with his new team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
He netted $2.2 million when Motorola acquired the body camera firm in 2019, according to his income tax return from that year.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
By then it was clear that $700 billion was a sum insufficient to grapple with the troubled assets acquired over the previous few years by Wall Street bond traders.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
The same machinery normally designed to make me acquire more has, in this case, made me more aware of what I can enjoy without acquiring at all.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
In the mid-2010s, he began his international expansion by acquiring a stake in the Spanish sunglasses company Hawkers, becoming its majority shareholder and president in 2016.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Yellow Wood Partners said the brands it’s acquiring lead in high-growth categories like hydration, gut health and immunity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Somewhere in the space between obvious joke and well, would you really be surprised?, a meme had begun acquiring the texture of consumer advice.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
That’s because all able-bodied hunter-gatherers are obliged to devote much of their time to acquiring food.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
