acquire (v.)

"to get or gain, obtain," mid-15c., acqueren, from Old French aquerre "acquire, gain, earn, procure" (12c., Modern French acquérir), from Vulgar Latin *acquaerere, corresponding to Latin acquirere/adquirere "to get in addition to, accumulate, gain," from ad "to," here perhaps emphatic (see ad-), + quaerere "to seek to obtain" (see query (v.)). Reborrowed in current form from Latin c. 1600. Related: Acquired; acquiring.

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to acquire

acquired (adj.)

c. 1600, "gained by effort," past-participle adjective from acquire. Of diseases, "occurring after birth, thus not dependent on heredity," 1842 (opposed to congenital); acquired immune deficiency is attested by 1980; acquired immune deficiency syndrome by 1982. Acquired taste is attested from 1734.

query (v.)

"to question, ask questions; express doubt," 1650s, from query (n.). Intransitive sense is by 1680s. Related: Queried; querying.

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Trends of acquire

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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lose

Old English losian "be lost, perish," from los "destruction, loss," from Proto-Germanic *lausa- (source also of Old Norse los "the breaking up of an army;" Old English forleosan "to lose, destroy," Old Frisian forliasa, Old Saxon farliosan, Middle Dutch verliesen, Old High German

assume

early 15c., "to arrogate, take upon oneself," from Latin assumere, adsumere "to take up, take to oneself, take besides, obtain in addition," from ad "to, toward, up to" (see ad-) + sumere "to take," from sub "under" (see sub-) + emere "to take" (from PIE root *em- "to take, distr

adopt

"take to one's self, make one's own by selection," c. 1500, a back-formation from adoption or else from Old French adopter (14c.) or directly from Latin adoptare "chose for oneself, take by choice, select, adopt," especially "to take into a family, adopt as a child," from ad "to"

obtain

early 15c., obteinen, "to get or acquire, inherit, gain, conquer," from Old French obtenir "acquire, obtain" (14c.) and directly...from Latin obtinere "hold, hold fast, take hold of, get possession of, acquire," from ob "in front of" (though perhaps intensive...

purchase

c. 1300, purchasen, "acquire, obtain; get, receive; procure, provide," also "accomplish or bring about; instigate; cause,...Originally to obtain or receive as due in any way, including through merit or suffering; the specific sense of "acquire or...

beget

Middle English biyeten, from Old English begietan (West Saxon), bigetan, bigeotan (Anglian) "to get by effort, find, acquire...

fledge

"to acquire feathers," 1560s, from Old English adjective *-flycge (Kentish -flecge; in unfligge "featherless," glossing Latin...

change

c. 1200, "to alter, make different, change" (transitive); early 13c. as "to substitute one for another;" mid-13c. as "to make (something) other than what it was, cause to turn or pass from one state to another;" from late 13c. as "to become different, be altered" (intransitive),

find

Old English findan "come upon, meet with; discover; obtain by search or study" (class III strong verb; past tense fand, past participle funden), from Proto-Germanic *findan "to come upon, discover" (source also of Old Saxon findan, Old Frisian finda, Old Norse finna, Middle Dutch

assimilate

early 15c., in physiology, "absorb into and make part of the body," from Latin assimilatus, past participle of assimilare, assimulare "to make like, copy, imitate, assume the form of; feign, pretend," from assimilated form of ad "to" (see ad-) + simulare "make similar," from simi

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updated on September 28, 2017

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Dictionary entries near acquire

acquaintance

acquainted

acquiesce

acquiescence

acquiescent

acquire

acquired

acquirement

acquisition

acquisitive

acquit