acquire
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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
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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.
Related Words
See get.
Other Word Forms
- acquirability noun
- acquirable adjective
- acquirement noun
- acquirer noun
- preacquire verb
- reacquire verb (used with object)
- self-acquired adjective
- unacquirable adjective
- unacquired adjective
- well-acquired adjective
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
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.
On Tuesday, Palo Alto Networks announced that it would acquire Koi, an Israeli cybersecurity firm.
From MarketWatch
Aside from the Issuer Solutions divestiture, Global Payments acquired payment processor Worldpay earlier this year.
From Barron's
Berkshire Hathaway acquired 5 million shares of New York Times and increased stakes in Chevron and Chubb.
From Barron's
The video streamer’s latest all-cash offer was to acquire Warner’s streaming and studios businesses for $27.75 a share, with the Discovery Global cable assets being spun out to investors.
From Barron's
Oftentimes, these atypical acquiring editors grew their online book communities for several years before landing at Bindery.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
