acquisition

American  

[ak-wuh-zish-uhn] / ˌæk wəˈzɪʃ ən /

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.

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acquisition British  

/ 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

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Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

• acquisitional adjective
• acquisitor noun
• preacquisition noun
• proacquisition adjective
• reacquisition noun
• superacquisition noun

Etymology

Origin of acquisition

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

Explanation

An acquisition is something you acquire — a book, a skill or if you are a mogul, a company. It describes things you have purchased, things you have learned, or things you have gotten. Acquisition has a formal sense to it. We don't talk about our new jeans as our latest acquisition, unless we are the kind of person who refers to their latest copy of Vogue as their Bible. It is very commonly used to refer to paintings purchased by museums — in fact, large museums have acquisition departments.

Example Sentences

Esco will fund the acquisition with $1.4 billion in stock and about $900 million in cash, partially through incremental debt.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

The acquisition intensifies competition in the direct-to-device market, currently dominated by Starlink’s 11,000+ satellites.

From Barron's • Apr. 15, 2026

Her biggest deal to date: a $51 million land acquisition closed alongside venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, positioned among high-profile neighbors that include Bill Gates, Toll Brothers, and the Howard Hughes Corp.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026

Yancoal said it intends to fund the acquisition with its own cash, a $1.2 billion loan facility and cash flow generated by the enlarged business.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

Europe had grown prosperous after the Thirty Years’ War, spurring a demand for luxury and worldly acquisition.

From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman

Related Words

• addition
• gain
• procurement
• purchase
• recovery