acquire

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

acquire (third-person singular simple present acquires, present participle acquiring, simple past and past participle acquired)

  1. (transitive) To get.
  2. (transitive) To gain, usually by one's own exertions; to get as one's own
    He acquired a title.
    all the riches he acquired were from hard work.
    One should acquire as much knowledge as possible from reading.
    to acquire a skill
    to acquire decent habits and manners
    • 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. […], volumes (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.
  3. (medicine) To become affected by an illness.
    Synonyms: contract, catch, get
  4. (computing) To sample signals and convert them into digital values.

Conjugation[edit]

Conjugation of acquire
infinitive (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
subjunctive acquire acquired
imperative acquire —
participles acquiring acquired

†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms[edit]

Antonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

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

See also[edit]

Latin[edit]

Verb[edit]

acquīre

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of acquīrō
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