# acquire
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English acqueren, from Old French aquerre, from Latin acquirō; ad- + quaerō (“to seek for”). See quest.

### Pronunciation

* (General American) IPA: /əˈkwaɪɚ/
* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /əˈkwaɪə/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)
* Hyphenation: ac‧quire

### Verb

acquire (third-person singular simple present acquires, present participle acquiring, simple past and past participle acquired)
* (transitive) To get.
* (transitive) To gain, usually by one's own exertions; to get as one's own.
    to acquire a skill
    to acquire decent habits and manners
    He acquired a title.
    All the riches he acquired were from hard work.
    One should acquire as much knowledge as possible from reading.
** a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “(please specify the chapter name or sermon number). The Consideration of our Latter End”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1830–1831, →OCLC:No virtue is acquired in an instant, but by degrees, step by step.
** 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:Descent is the title whereby a man, on the death of his ancestor, acquires his estate, by right of representation, as his heir at law.
** 1922, Michael Arlen, “3/19/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house ; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something ; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall.
** 1980, A. W. Bally, Dynamics of Plate Interiors, →ISBN, page 49:In the process of basification, the top layer of the crust becomes basic, while the lower becomes ultrabasic acquiring the density of the mantle or an even greater density
** 2012, Nadine Gordimer, No Time Like the Present, Bloomsbury, published 2013, page 46:If you're black you've had to improvise communication with unilingual whites, she'd probably easily acquire this ancient one, too.
* (medicine) To become affected by an illness.
    Synonyms: contract, catch, get
* (computing) To sample signals and convert them into digital values.
* (Canada, US, military) To begin tracking a mobile target with a particular detector or sight, generally with the implication that an attack on the target thereby becomes possible.

#### Conjugation

| infinitive | (to) acquire | (to) acquire |
| | present tense | past tense |
| 1st-person singular | acquire | acquired |
| 2nd-person singular | acquire, acquirest$^†$ | acquired, acquiredst$^†$ |
| 3rd-person singular | acquires, acquireth$^†$ | acquired |
| plural | acquire | acquired |
| subjunctive | acquire | acquired |
| imperative | acquire | — |
| participles | acquiring | acquired |
$^†$Archaic or obsolete.

#### Synonyms

* (get, gain): attain, come by, earn, gain, obtain, procure, secure, win

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “get, gain”): abandon, lose

#### Derived terms

* acquihire
* acquirability
* acquirable
* acquired taste
* acquiree
* acquirer
* acquiry
* after-acquired title
* preacquire
* pre-acquired
* reacquire
* unacquire

#### Related terms

* acquisition
* acquirement
* acquisitive
* acquisitory

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### See also

* obtain
* reach

## Latin
### Verb

acquīre
* second-person singular present active imperative of acquīrō