procure

See also: procuré

English

WOTD – 22 March 2007

Etymology

From Middle English procuren, from Old French procurer, from Late Latin prōcūrāre, present active infinitive of Latin prōcūrō (“I manage, administer”), from prō (“on behalf of”) + cūrō (“I care for”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈkjʊə/, /pɹəˈkjɔː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈkjʊɹ/, /pɹəˈkjɝ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)

Verb

procure (third-person singular simple present procures, present participle procuring, simple past and past participle procured)

1. (transitive) To acquire or obtain.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     if we procure not to ourselves more woe

   • 1945 August 17, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 6, in Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, OCLC 3655473:

     Later there would also be need for seeds and artificial manures, besides various tools and, finally, the machinery for the windmill. How these were to be procured, no one was able to imagine.

   Synonyms: get, gain, acquire, attain, obtain

2. (transitive) To obtain a person as a prostitute for somebody else.

   Synonyms: buy, purchase

3. (transitive, criminal law) To induce or persuade someone to do something.
4. (obsolete) To contrive; to bring about; to effect; to cause.
   • 1551, Ralph Robinson (translator), Thomas More, Utopia

     By all means possible they procure to have gold and silver among them in reproach.

   • c. 1594, William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:

     Proceed, Solinus, to procure my fall.

5. (obsolete) To solicit; to entreat.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, book III, canto I, stanza 1:

     The famous Briton prince and faery knight, […] / Of the fair Alma greatly were procured / To make there lenger soiourne and abode.

6. (obsolete) To cause to come; to bring; to attract.
   • c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene v]:

     What unaccustomed cause procures her hither?

Related terms

• procurement
• procurer
• procuress
• proxy

 

Translations

to acquire or obtain an item or service

• Bulgarian: получавам (bg) (polučavam), набавям си (nabavjam si)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 獲得 (wok⁶ dak¹)

• Dutch: verwerven (nl), verkrijgen (nl)
• Finnish: hankkia (fi)
• French: acquérir (fr), obtenir (fr)
• German: beschaffen (de), erwerben (de), besorgen (de), aufbringen (de), verschaffen (de), beibringen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: κτάομαι (ktáomai), πορίζομαι (porízomai)

• Italian: procurare (it), approvvigionare (it), acquistare (it), ottenere (it)
• Maori: haha, kaitaonga
• Portuguese: obter (pt), conseguir (pt)
• Russian: достава́ть (ru) (dostavátʹ), добыва́ть (ru) (dobyvátʹ)
• Sanskrit: लभते (sa) (labhate)
• Swedish: skaffa (sv), införskaffa, anskaffa (sv)
• Tocharian B: täk-
• Westrobothnian: dillrå, rå-dill
• Yiddish: דערקאַזשען‎ (derkazhen)

to obtain a person as a prostitute for somebody else

• Bulgarian: своднича (svodniča)
• Finnish: parittaa (fi)
• French: proxénétisme (fr) m

• German: zuführen (de), kuppeln (de), vermitteln (de)
• Russian: сводничать (ru) (svodničatʹ)

to induce or persuade someone to do something

• Finnish: yllyttää (fi)
• German: verleiten (de), überreden (de)

• Polish: stręczyć (pl) impf
• Russian: подгова́ривать (ru) (podgovárivatʹ)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Czech: získat (cs)
• Dutch: verwerven (nl) (1); aanschaffen (nl) (2), schaffen (nl)
• French: procurer (fr)
• German: beschaffen (de), besorgen (de)

• Icelandic: útvega
• Italian: procurare (it), procacciare (it), ottenere (it)
• Polish: wystarać się, sprokurować (pl)
• Slovene: preskrbeti, dobiti, nabaviti

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2022), “procure”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• crouper

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁɔ.kyʁ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophones: procurent, procures

Verb

procure

1. inflection of procurer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

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Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /proˈku.re/
• Rhymes: -ure
• Hyphenation: pro‧cù‧re

Noun

procure f

1. plural of procura

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Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: pro‧cu‧re

Verb

procure

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of procurar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of procurar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of procurar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of procurar

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɾoˈkuɾe/, [pɾoˈku.ɾe]

Verb

procure

1. inflection of procurar:
   1. first-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular present subjunctive
   3. third-person singular imperative