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 acquiring
Contemporary Examples
The last federal position he held was Inmate--he served more than eight years for his inventive approach to acquiring money.
You spend three or more hours per day reading about, acquiring or preparing certain kinds of food you believe to be “pure.”
“Juan Carlos has always been slightly obsessed by acquiring money,” says one member of Madrid society.
Acquiring the first license and making the first sale Tuesday morning is crucial on several levels, he says.
At least the old elites learned to sail and row while acquiring proof of their right to rule.
Historical Examples
But the perception of "how to do it" is precisely what most of us have been acquiring.
The Conquest of FearBasil King
The expectation of acquiring a competent fortune did not last long.
The Life of Horatio Lord NelsonRobert Southey
Gauss also devoted much of his time to acquiring the ancient and modern languages.
Heroes of the TelegraphJ. Munro
About every other method of acquiring the Christian experiences there is a "perhaps."
Pax VobiscumHenry Drummond
As a preliminary to acquiring it is he to be shut out from the society of his fellows?
Shelley, Godwin and Their CircleH. N. Brailsford
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 acquiring
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