acquire
Americanverb (used with object)
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to come into possession or ownership of; get as one's own.
to acquire property.
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to gain for oneself through one's actions or efforts.
to acquire learning.
- Synonyms:
- appropriate, attain, earn, win
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Linguistics. to achieve native or nativelike command of (a language or a linguistic rule or element).
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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
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acquirabilitynoun
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acquirementnoun
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acquirernoun
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preacquireverb
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reacquireverb (used with object)
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acquirableadjective
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self-acquiredadjective
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unacquirableadjective
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unacquiredadjective
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well-acquiredadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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acquiresimple
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acquiressimple
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have acquiredperfect
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has acquiredperfect
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am acquiringprogressive
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are acquiringprogressive
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is acquiringprogressive
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have been acquiringperfect progressive
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has been acquiringperfect progressive
Past
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acquiredsimple
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had acquiredperfect
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was acquiringprogressive
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were acquiringprogressive
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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
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Frindle
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Boy: Tales of Childhood
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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:
Truelink Capital is nearing a deal to acquire Lyons Magnus that values the fruit-based ingredients and beverage maker at around $1 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
The nonprofit Fred Brown Recovery Services was seeking to acquire the five-acre property and turn it into a 106-bed inpatient recovery center for “veterans, the justice-involved, the unhoused, and those with co-occurring conditions.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Other sensitive topics are what role it determines carbon capture technology can play in businesses or whether they can acquire carbon credits from programmes outside the EU that would be counted towards their emissions reductions.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Last week, a still-unconfirmed report in Puck stated that Netflix is entering initial talks to acquire Letterboxd, the film-logging and review platform beloved by hardcore and casual cinephiles alike.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
Writers acquire the hedge habit to conform to the bureaucratic imperative that’s abbreviated as CYA, which I’ll spell out as Cover Your Anatomy.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
The research expands on decades of work exploring how the brain acquires new abilities.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
Individuals can’t request debt relief because the nonprofit acquires bundled debt for thousands of people at once.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
And yet invisibility makes that power easier to expand because citizens stop feeling the intrusion even while the state acquires increasingly intimate access to ordinary life.
From Slate ● May 20, 2026
Some 300 anime series are produced each year in Japan, and Crunchyroll acquires rights to 80% of them, Purini said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 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
An ETF that happened to include South Korea suddenly acquired much greater exposure to AI hardware than one that did not.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
Major international oil firms including TotalEnergies have acquired licenses to explore for oil and gas reserves off the archipelago's shores.
From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026
It was a model designed to produce strong returns because investors acquired large stakes at low prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
On Wednesday, Watt made a bid to buy back the Scottish craft beer firm just months after it was acquired.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
For friendships acquired by a price and not by greatness and nobility of spirit are purchased but are not owned, and at the proper time cannot be spent.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
Buyers have several options for acquiring a home loan: banks, credit unions, mortgage brokers or direct lenders.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
The reports also said Paris had considered acquiring the software.
From Barron's ● Jul. 16, 2026
Buyers around the world are acquiring fossils for themselves and displaying them in their homes and offices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Seems to me I was just reading about how the acquiring of players James asked for was considered a factor in the team’s inability to put together a cohesive unit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
They wanted their wives to like the climbing, the acquiring, and the work it took to maintain status once it was achieved.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
Definitions 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.
