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.

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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

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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; see acquire) + -iō -ion

Explanation

An acquisition is something you acquire — a book, a skill or if you are a mogul, a company. It describes things you have purchased, things you have learned, or things you have gotten. Acquisition has a formal sense to it. We don't talk about our new jeans as our latest acquisition, unless we are the kind of person who refers to their latest copy of Vogue as their Bible. It is very commonly used to refer to paintings purchased by museums — in fact, large museums have acquisition departments.

Example Sentences

As part of an antitrust settlement, Constellation Energy agreed to divest multiple power plants to close its acquisition of Calpine in January 2026.

From Barron's • May 18, 2026

While Ripley and Berger were negotiating the acquisition of the retail chain, Goad was stalking the brand from afar, as she puts it now, hoping to one day work on its turnaround.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026

City appear to have disproved that theory with not only the acquisition of Semenyo, but Marc Guehi too after the England defender joined from Crystal Palace for £20m.

From BBC • May 16, 2026

The Players Alliance was founded a little over a year ago, with the mission of informing consumers about the inner workings of deals like the EA acquisition and preserving the gaming community.

From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2026

What he craved was possession and the power it gave him; what he adored was anticipation—the slow acquisition of love, then life, and finally the secrets within.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Related Words

• addition
• gain
• procurement
• purchase
• recovery