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Synonyms

acquisition

American  
[ak-wuh-zish-uhn] / ˌæk wəˈzɪʃ ən /

noun

  1. the act of acquiring or gaining possession.

    the acquisition of real estate.

  2. something acquired; addition.

    public excitement about the museum's recent acquisitions.

  3. the purchase of one business enterprise by another.

    the acquisition of a rival corporation;

    mergers and acquisitions.

  4. Linguistics. the act or process of achieving mastery of a language or a linguistic rule or element.

    child language acquisition; second language acquisition.


acquisition British  
/ ˌækwɪˈzɪʃən /

noun

  1. the act of acquiring or gaining possession

  2. something acquired

  3. a person or thing of special merit added to a group

  4. astronautics the process of locating a spacecraft, satellite, etc, esp by radar, in order to gather tracking and telemetric information

"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

Usage

What does acquisition mean? Acquisition most commonly means the process of obtaining something or the thing that is obtained.It is a noun form of the verb acquire, which most commonly means to get, buy, or learn. Acquire and acquisition have a lot of meanings that vary with context. Most of them refer to the act of getting something permanently.Acquisition is commonly used to refer to a company that is acquired by another company. It’s especially used this way in the phrase mergers and acquisitions.It’s also used in a specific way in the context of linguistics: language acquisition is the process of becoming fluent in a language.Example: The company announced plans for the acquisition of its largest competitor, raising concerns about it becoming a monopoly.

Other Word Forms

  • acquisitional adjective
  • acquisitor noun
  • preacquisition noun
  • proacquisition adjective
  • reacquisition noun
  • superacquisition noun

Etymology

Origin of acquisition

First recorded in 1375–1425; Middle English adquisicioun, a(c)quisicion, from Latin acquīsītiōn-, stem of acquīsītiō, from acquīsīt(us) “acquired” (past participle of acquīrere; acquire ) + -iō -ion

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Near-term financial impact may be limited, but Tan thinks the acquisition should contribute positively over time through scale, synergies and customer diversification.

From The Wall Street Journal

As Barron’s has previously noted, while the deal isn’t formally an acquisition and Groq will continue to exist as a stand-alone company, it looks like a potentially defensive move to stave off competition.

From Barron's

Strategy sold $108.8 million in Class A common stock, with $11.7 billion remaining for issuance, to fund its latest Bitcoin acquisition.

From Barron's

Strategy sold $108.8 million in Class A common stock, with $11.7 billion remaining for issuance, to fund its latest Bitcoin acquisition.

From Barron's

That created waves of acquisitions in Japan by domestic and foreign investors.

From The Wall Street Journal