acquired

American  

[uh-kwahy-erd] / əˈkwaɪ ərd /

adjective

1. obtained or procured, such as by purchasing, receiving, learning.

2. Medicine/Medical. (of a disease or condition) developed by the patient at some point after birth.

3. Biology. (of a trait) developed by an organism in response to its environment; not inherited.

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Other Word Forms

• nonacquired adjective
• pre-acquired adjective
• reacquired adjective
• self-acquired adjective
• unacquired adjective

Explanation

The adjective acquired describes something you're not born with: you gain or develop it later in life, like your acquired taste for coffee. Acquired comes from the Latin word acquirere, meaning "to seek in addition to. Something acquired is something you have gotten, not something you always had. For example, you may have acquired the habit of buying lots...and lots of sneakers after getting a job in a shoe store. Or, if you have an acquired habit of reading novels, this is something that developed over time. After all, you weren't born reading!

Example Sentences

“Private equity has just acquired its largest organization.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

Now, SpaceX regularly launches Falcon 9 rockets, has developed a major satellite-internet business, is testing a mega-rocket and has acquired Musk’s artificial-intelligence startup.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026

That pick was acquired from Seattle in the Plum trade last year.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

Strategy acquired just 4,871 Bitcoin at the time, making the latest transaction more than twice as large.

From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026

French has also acquired the word expérimentation, which is now sometimes used as if it were equivalent to ‘experiment’.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• captured
• collected
• seized