obtain

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English obteinen, from Anglo-Norman obtenir, optiner et al., and Middle French obtenir, from Latin obtinēre (“to gain, achieve, succeed, possess”), from ob- + tenēre (“to hold”).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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obtain (third-person singular simple present obtains, present participle obtaining, simple past and past participle obtained)

  1. (transitive) To get hold of; to gain possession of, to procure; to acquire, in any way. [from 15th c.]
    • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Luke:
      And a certayne ruler axed him: sayinge: Goode Master: what ought I to do, to obtaine eternall lyfe?
    • 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter III, in Mansfield Park: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 64:
      […] Julia was quite as eager for novelty and pleasure as Maria, though she might not have struggled through so much to obtain them, and could better bear a subordinate situation.
    • 2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly‎[1], volume 189, number 2, page 48:
      But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention. Partly, this is a result of how online advertising has traditionally worked: advertisers pay for clicks, and a click is a click, however it's obtained.
  2. (intransitive, obsolete) To secure (that) a specific objective or state of affairs be reached. [15th–19th c.]
    • 1722, Daniel Defoe, Colonel Jack:
      he was condemned to die for the felony, and being so well known for an old offender, had certainly died, but the merchant, upon his earnest application, had obtained that he should be transported, on condition that he restored all the rest of his bills, which he had done accordingly.
  3. (intransitive, obsolete) To prevail, be victorious; to succeed. [15th–19th c.]
  4. (transitive, obsolete) To hold; to keep, possess or occupy. [15th–18th c.]
  5. (intransitive, philosophy) To exist or be the case; to hold true, be in force. [from 17th c.]
    • 1908 February 19, Jack London, chapter 17, in The Iron Heel, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC:
      Even though the Pervaise confession had never come to light, no reasonable doubt could obtain; for the act in question […] was on a par with countless other acts committed by the oligarchs, and, before them, by the capitalists.
    • 1942 July-August, T. F. Cameron, “How the Staff of a Railway is Recruited”, in Railway Magazine, page 207:
      In connection with the various courses of practical instruction, the companies maintain signalling schools fitted with standard railway equipment in which the staff can be given instructions under conditions exactly similar to those which obtain in signal boxes.
    • 1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 460:
      But the hostage situation no longer obtains, and so Uncle Enzo feels it important to stop Rife now, […]

Conjugation

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Conjugation of obtain
infinitive (to) obtain
present tense past tense
1st-person singular obtain obtained
2nd-person singular obtain, obtainest† obtained, obtainedst†
3rd-person singular obtains, obtaineth† obtained
plural obtain
subjunctive obtain obtained
imperative obtain —
participles obtaining obtained

†Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ten- (1 c, 62 e)

Translations

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Anagrams

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