acquisition

[ ak-wuh-zish-uhn ]

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

/ 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

Other Words From

• acqui·sition·al adjective
• ac·quis·i·tor [uh, -, kwiz, -i-ter], noun
• preac·qui·sition noun
• proac·qui·sition adjective
• reac·qui·sition noun
• super·acqui·sition noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of acquisition¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of acquisition¹

C14: from Latin acquīsītiōn-, from acquīrere to acquire

Example Sentences

With a lack of scripted content finished on time, reality television and acquisitions of already produced international shows have been used to fill the gap.

From Fortune

Microsoft is the only company to publicly confirm acquisition talks.

From Fortune

Benioff hinted that Salesforce is unlikely to go on an acquisition spree.

From Fortune

LinkedIn’s registered user base has grown from 400 million people at the time the acquisition closed in December 2016 to 706 million people as of July 2020.

From Digiday

Former House speaker Paul Ryan is starting a special purpose acquisition company that will seek to raise about $300 million, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing sources.

From Fortune

The user fee on duck stamps goes exclusively to funding federal acquisition of wetlands as wildlife habitat.

From The Daily Beast

“EOTS is a poster child for one of the ills of the acquisition process,” the official said.

From The Daily Beast

ISIS had broadly advertised its acquisition of a broad range of U.S.-made weapons during its rampage across Iraq.

From The Daily Beast

Last year, the company raised funding at a $2 billion valuation and shot down a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook.

From The Daily Beast

Whoever pulled the trigger (so to speak) on this acquisition may have just been caught up in the moment.

From The Daily Beast

In brief, Chumru abused the English with such an air that he was regarded by the rebels as quite an acquisition.

From Project Gutenberg

It is skirted by houses and gardens and is a valuable acquisition to the town.

From Project Gutenberg

John Bones, lawyer, age twenty-six, was a recent acquisition to Coldriver village.

From Project Gutenberg

And his mind at least was happy in its new sense of expansion and acquisition, its increasing and developing powers.

From Project Gutenberg

It is when studies requiring abstruse thought are reached that the facility in acquisition of the savage races comes to an end.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• donation
• earnings
• gain
• profit
• return

More About Acquisition

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.

Where does acquisition come from?

The first records of the word acquisition come from around 1400. It ultimately comes from the Latin verb acquīrere, which means “to add to one’s possessions.”

Acquisition is most commonly used in the context of business to refer to the purchase of a company or property or to gaining possession of something. In the context of museums, an acquisition is an addition to the collection, typically one that has been purchased or donated. But acquisition isn’t just used to refer to buying things or gaining possession of physical things—it can be used in many general ways. The goal of learning is acquisition of knowledge and skills. In human resources, the term talent acquisition refers to the recruiting and hiring of employees.

Acquisition should not be confused with the term requisition, which is a noun form of the verb require and most commonly refers to a request or the act of requiring.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to acquisition?

• acquire (verb)
• acquisitional (adjective)
• acquisitor (noun)
• preacquisition (noun)
• proacquisition (adjective)

What are some synonyms for acquisition?

• addition
• purchase

What are some words that share a root or word element with acquisition? 

 

• acquisitive
• disquisition 
• accede

What are some words that often get used in discussing acquisition?

• obtain
• get
• gain
• buy
• property
• company
• possession
• business
• language
• skill

What are some words acquisition may be commonly confused with?

• inquisition
• requisition

How is acquisition used in real life?

Acquisition is often used in a somewhat formal way. It can be used in all kinds of contexts, but it is commonly used to refer to obtaining property, businesses, or other financial assets.

Bank of America and Goldman Sachs' equities desks have blasted terms for Uniti Group's $270 million entitlement, which will be used to fund its acquisition of OptiComm. https://t.co/GIIfp5l19h

— Financial Review (@FinancialReview) June 14, 2020

Be relentlessly, single-mindedly, obsessively pursuing the acquisition of SKILLS that will let you DELIVER on your PROMISES to yourself and to those that are counting on you.

— Tom Bilyeu (@TomBilyeu) February 10, 2019

Meet Colette Campbell, one of our 2020 Ladyboss Summit speakers! ✨ Colette is the Director of Talent Acquisition and Diversity and Inclusion at @BremerBank. Register to learn from Colette on Aug. 4! https://t.co/xb2U7ew9N0 pic.twitter.com/4SwuOfwNYJ

— Ladyboss Midwest (@LadybossMidwest) June 15, 2020

 

 

Try using acquisition!

Is acquisition used correctly in the following sentence? 

The conglomerate is pursuing the acquisition of several new tech startups.