acquire
[uh-kwahyuh r]
- 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.
- 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.
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Origin of acquire
1400–50; < 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 < Middle French aquerre < Latin
Synonyms
See more synonyms for acquire on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for acquired
Contemporary Examples
He acquired $1 billion worth of art and tangled scandalously with the authorities.
Klein argued that Ed acquired his following by “an ancient ritual known as sexist jokes and lots of T&A.”
Canada’s Subversive Sock Puppet: Ed the Sock Isn’t Afraid to Say AnythingSoraya Roberts
November 13, 2014
U.S. officials have acquired more bling from overseas than Kanye West and Kim Kardashian had on their wedding registry.
Meditation Rugs, Swords, and Horse Head Fiddles: The Strangest Gifts Given to Government BigwigsBen Jacobs
November 11, 2014
The two U.S. entities, along with the RDIF, last year acquired a majority interest in a leading Russian tire maker, Voltyre-Prom.
Exclusive: Did This Manhattan Firm Help Shield a Russian Fund From Sanctions?Bill Conroy
November 10, 2014
The scandal drove the company from the street business, but Chubby acquired a truck of his own.
Historical Examples
He acquired a general knowledge of the ebb and flow of popular stocks.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
These objections were earnestly urged when we acquired Louisiana.
The things we lack are more vivid to us, as a rule, than those we have acquired.
The Conquest of FearBasil King
They can be acquired only by living in an organized community in which they are traditional.
A Treatise on Parents and ChildrenGeorge Bernard Shaw
These can be acquired only by "mixing with the world," no matter how wicked the world is.
A Treatise on Parents and ChildrenGeorge Bernard Shaw
acquire
- (tr) to get or gain (something, such as an object, trait, or ability), esp more or less permanently
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Word Origin
C15: via Old French from Latin acquīrere, from ad- in addition + quaerere to get, seek
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for acquired
adj.
c.1600, "gained by effort," past participle adjective from acquire. Of diseases, "occurring after birth, thus not dependent on heredity," 1842 (opposed to congenital). Acquired taste is attested from 1734.
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acquire
v.
mid-15c., acqueren, from Old French aquerre "acquire, gain, earn, procure," from Vulgar Latin *acquaerere, from Latin acquirere "to seek in addition to" (see acquisition). Reborrowed in current form from Latin c.1600. Related: Acquired; acquiring.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
acquired
(ə-kwīrd′)- Of or relating to a disease, condition, or characteristic that is not congenital but develops after birth.
- Developed in response to an antigen, as resistance to a disease by vaccination or previous infection.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.