procurement

American  

[proh-kyoor-muhnt, pruh‑] / proʊˈkyʊər mənt, prə‑ /

noun

1. the act of procuring, or obtaining or getting by effort, care, or the use of special means.

   The organ procurement procedure is very complicated.

2. the act of obtaining equipment, materials, or supplies.

   The secretary of defense argued in favor of increasing the budget for procurement.

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procurement British  

/ prəˈkjʊəmənt /

noun

1. the act or an instance of procuring

2. commerce

   1. the act of buying

   2. ( as modifier )

      procurement cost

      procurement budget

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Usage

What does procurement mean? Procurement most commonly refers to the formal, official process of purchasing and obtaining materials, supplies, or equipment, especially in the context of business or government. Many large companies and government agencies have a procurement department that handles the ordering and acquisition of supplies. Such a department is often simply referred to as procurement, as in You’ll have to ask procurement to order those materials. Procurement is the noun form of the verb procure. In general, procurement means the act of getting something, especially through special means or extra effort, as in The procurement of transplant organs is a complex process. Example: If someone says they work in procurement, it means they spend a lot of time navigating the supply chain to get what their company needs.

Other Word Forms

• nonprocurement
  noun
• self-procurement
  noun

Etymology

Origin of procurement

First recorded in 1300–50; procure ( def. ) + -ment ( def. )

Explanation

Procurement is the act of getting something you need. Save it for when you need to sound serious, like if you're in the military. Procurement is the noun form of the verb procure which means "to acquire," but procurement often has military connotations, such as: "The procurement of the weapons for the war is vital." It also means acquiring something that was extra hard to get, and you can use it when you want to sound formal: "I will work on the procurement of some more lemonade for all of us." Sound extra fancy by quoting the British poet John Dryden from way back in 1717: "They think it done/ By her procurement."

Example Sentences

Ceding control of the air, through poor procurement choices and insufficient investment in human capital, would be a strategic failure.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026

Stocks at the key Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp hub are at their lowest level in six years, according to the procurement intelligence firm Beroe.

From BBC • May 3, 2026

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Ian Ma said it was a "transition from a domestic, ministry-led procurement model to a normal practice which companies could drive business opportunities just like other global companies are doing."

From Barron's • May 3, 2026

“New server procurement cannot keep pace with demand growth in the near term,” the internal Meta memo said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026

No sooner had Sherwood Butler, the laboratory’s head of procurement, set the final brick on a new building than his brother, Melvin, set about filling it with new employees.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

Related Words

• acquisition