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 acquires
Contemporary Examples
Facebook, in effect, already is selling the businesses it acquires to others.
Wes acquires a hat, ring, heart stones, flowers, his baby blanket, a cloth angel, photographs.
And there is no question that once he acquires it, history shifts immediately.
Since the under-40s are less white than the over-65s, this battle between generations also acquires an unmistakable racial cast.
That imbalance will continue even if and when Iran acquires nuclear capability.
Historical Examples
Mix this gradually into half a pound of rice flour, and then stir it over a gentle fire till it acquires the thickness of jelly.
Bodhi tree, the tree under which Buddha acquires enlightenment.
The BuddhaPaul Carus
In Babylonia, moreover, it acquires the force of vassal-king.
The Religion of Babylonia and AssyriaMorris Jastrow
In this it is worked for half an hour, when it acquires a deep blue color.
TextilesWilliam H. Dooley
Yet the jest, like the proverb, acquires a value by becoming current.
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 acquires
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