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; see 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

Earlier this month, Keurig Dr Pepper closed its $18 billion acquisition of JDE Peet’s, the parent company of Peet’s Coffee.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

The CIA’s new acquisition framework to turbocharge collaboration with the private sector may be legal with proper oversight.

From Salon • Apr. 23, 2026

When Steve Jobs came back to Apple through the NeXT acquisition in December 1996, he did not come back as the visionary of popular memory.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 22, 2026

SpaceX could pay Cursor $10 billion for their joint AI work if the acquisition does not proceed, amid a competitive AI coding race.

From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026

The Reichstag, the German parliament, had passed a Peace Resolution, calling for “a peace of understanding and the permanent reconciliation of peoples without the forcible acquisition of territory.”

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

Related Words

• addition
• gain
• procurement
• purchase
• recovery