acquire
Americanverb (used with object)
-
acquires,
present (3rd person singular)
-
acquired,
past participle, past
-
acquiring
present participle
-
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.
- Synonyms:
- appropriate, attain, earn, win
-
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.
verb
Usage
What does acquire mean? Acquire most commonly means to get, buy, or learn. Acquire has a lot of meanings that vary with context. Most of them refer to the act of getting something permanently. It has more specific meanings in linguistics and in the context of the military. It’s easy to misspell acquire as aquire, so don’t forget the c. Example: When the merger is complete, our company will have acquired its largest competitor.
Synonym Usage
See get.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
acquirabilitynoun
-
acquirementnoun
-
acquirernoun
-
preacquireverb
-
reacquireverb (used with object)
-
acquirableadjective
-
self-acquiredadjective
-
unacquirableadjective
-
unacquiredadjective
-
well-acquiredadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
acquiresimple
-
acquiressimple
-
have acquiredperfect
-
has acquiredperfect
-
am acquiringprogressive
-
are acquiringprogressive
-
is acquiringprogressive
-
have been acquiringperfect progressive
-
has been acquiringperfect progressive
Past
-
acquiredsimple
-
had acquiredperfect
-
was acquiringprogressive
-
were acquiringprogressive
-
had been acquiringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of acquire
First recorded in 1400–50; from 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, from Middle French aquerre, from Latin, as above
Explanation
To acquire means to get or come to own something. You acquire an education by your own effort. You acquire a painting by paying for it or by someone giving it to you. You acquire a sense of calm in crisis through experience. The list of things you can acquire includes: an object, a trait, a skill, or an ability. An acquired taste is something that people usually don't like when they first experience it, but later they come to enjoy it, such as raw clams or marmite. The verb acquire was borrowed from Latin acquīrere "to add to," from the prefix ad- "at, toward" plus quaerere "to seek, get."
Vocabulary lists containing acquire
List 4
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Frindle
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Boy: Tales of Childhood
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Additional funding from Biohub then made it possible to acquire a customized, state-of-the-art Thermo Fisher Krios cryo-EM microscope and modify it to accommodate the laser technology.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026
Pressure is something Kessler feels equipped to handle, even while acknowledging that the stakes are high and that all the noise about the high price the team paid to acquire him only increased the volume.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026
There is a theory that the £50m spent to acquire Andrey Santos from Chelsea should have been diverted elsewhere.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
Silence Therapeutics stock surges as Merck KGaA agrees to acquire the RNA drugmaker for over $1 billion.
From Barron's ● Oct. 19, 2026
The nearest Salvador had ever come to his dream of owning a car was to acquire an old rusting set of truck wheels, which he set tenderly behind the house.
From "Lupita Mañana" by Patricia Beatty
“Children of the Wolves” acquires even greater depth when an insightful Turkish police detective joins the hunt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
"Understanding how gluons behave inside nuclei is therefore essential to understanding how matter itself acquires its mass and structure."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 12, 2026
Goldman Sachs sees opportunity and acquires ETF company Neos.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
Milan-based Bending Spoons, which went public recently on the Nasdaq, is a conglomerate that acquires and revamps tech businesses, such as AOL, Evernote and Vimeo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Eventually he acquires a large fortune and reappears in society as the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
With financial support from Biohub, Müller acquired an advanced cryo-EM instrument and equipped it with the new laser phase plate.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026
The stage for the possible marriage was set this year when SpaceX acquired Musk’s privately held xAI company in a $1.25-trillion deal that brought the AI company’s assets to the rocket maker.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
The US had in 2022 secured the right to sell the property on grounds that it was acquired through "criminal proceeds and misappropriated Gambian public funds".
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
In this decade, music publishing has become sought-after intellectual property, acquired by companies funded by private-equity firms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
“He’d always say Bear Stearns could never be acquired by anyone because the culture of the firm could never be assimilated into anything else,” said Vinny.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Over the past year, Musk has moved to consolidate his businesses, with SpaceX acquiring xAI and X, formerly Twitter, before going public this year.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
The company sought to boost its library by acquiring Warner Bros.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
Forward Consumer Partners is acquiring the company known for its colorful bandages and bringing back its founder as an adviser.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026
SpaceX would do the acquiring, with Tesla investors swapping their shares for SpaceX stock; the resulting firm would be valued at something like $3.5 trillion.
From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2026
He had not dared to rebel, he had gone back into the Red Room every holiday, feigning interest, acquiring knowledge, disguising his fear.
From "I'm the King of the Castle" by Susan Hill
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
