procure

See also: procuré

English

WOTD – 22 March 2007

Etymology

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 2”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, 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: A Fairy Story, 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.

2. (transitive) To obtain a person as a prostitute for somebody else.
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: Published According to the True Originall Copies (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: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene v]:

     What unaccustomed cause procures her hither?

Synonyms

• (acquire): obtain
• (obtain a prostitute): buy, purchase

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)

• 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
• Slovene: preskrbeti, dobiti, nabaviti

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “procure”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• crouper

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French

Verb

procure

1. first-person singular present indicative of procurer
2. third-person singular present indicative of procurer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of procurer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of procurer
5. second-person singular imperative of procurer

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Italian

Noun

procure f

1. plural of procura

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Portuguese

Verb

procure

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

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Spanish

Verb

procure

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of procurar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of procurar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of procurar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of procurar.