acquire

[ uh-kwahyuhr ]

See synonyms for acquire on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),ac·quired, ac·quir·ing.

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.

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

synonym study For acquire

1. See get.

Other words for acquire

2	win, earn, attain; appropriate

See synonyms for acquire on Thesaurus.com

Other words from acquire

ac·quir·a·ble, adjective
ac·quir·a·bil·i·ty, noun
ac·quir·er, noun
pre·ac·quire, verb, pre·ac·quired, pre·ac·quir·ing.
re·ac·quire, verb (used with object), re·ac·quired, re·ac·quir·ing.
self-ac·quired, adjective
un·ac·quir·a·ble, adjective
un·ac·quired, adjective
well-ac·quired, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use acquire in a sentence

And their anger has risen so high that they even propose to make the acquirer of these goods suffer very bitterly indeed.
Raemaekers' Cartoons | Louis Raemaekers
Yes, if the acquirer has any such capacities as we have just outlined.
The Art of Public Speaking | Dale Carnagey (AKA Dale Carnegie) and J. Berg Esenwein
But his chief celebrity was as an acquirer of those of others, provided always that they were old enough or rare enough.
The Book-Hunter in London | William Roberts
I pointed it out to Lincoln; but he missed it, and Mr Whelan was the acquirer.
The Confessions of a Collector | William Carew Hazlitt
One item my agent missed, and I had to hunt down the acquirer, who gave it up to me at a trifling advance.
The Confessions of a Collector | William Carew Hazlitt

British Dictionary definitions for acquire

acquire

/ (əˈkwaɪə) /

verb

(tr) to get or gain (something, such as an object, trait, or ability), esp more or less permanently

Origin of acquire

C15: via Old French from Latin acquīrere, from ad- in addition + quaerere to get, seek

Derived forms of acquire

acquirable, adjective
acquirement, noun
acquirer, noun

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

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