acquirev.

Brit.

/əˈkwʌɪə/, U.S.

/əˈkwaɪ(ə)r/

Forms: late Middle English acquere, late Middle English aqwere, late Middle English–1500s acquyre, late Middle English– acquire, 1500s adquire, 1600s acquier; also Scottish pre-1700 acquire, pre-1700 acquyire, pre-1700 acquyr.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French acquer-, acquerre; Latin acquīrere.

Etymology: Partly (i) < Anglo-Norman and Middle French acquer-, aquer-, aquerr-, stressed stem of Anglo-Norman and Middle French acquerre, aquere, aquerre (Middle French acquerir , French acquérir : see below), and partly (ii) < classical Latin acquīrere to get in addition, to obtain, to accrue to < ac- ac- prefix + quaerere to seek (see queer v.¹). Compare Old Occitan aquerre , aquerir , Catalan adquirir (15th cent.; also †acquerir ), Spanish aquerir (1414), Portuguese adquirir (1493; 15th cent. as †aquerer , †aquirir ). Compare earlier acquisition n.Anglo-Norman and Middle French acquerre , aquere , aquerre , Middle French acquerir is < an unattested post-classical Latin form *acquaerere , alteration (after quaerere to seek, to ask: see queer v.¹) of classical Latin acquīrere (see above), and is attested in the following chief senses: ‘to gain possession of (something), whether by purchase or in another way’ (12th cent. in Old French, with reference to both material objects and immaterial qualities or skills such as virtue, knowledge, prudence, etc.), ‘to gain (honour, friends, etc.)’ (first half of the 14th cent. or earlier), ‘to come to have or possess (a quality, feature, etc.)’ (1347 in the passage translated in quot. 1474 at sense 2a, or earlier). In early use, the verb is sometimes confused with inquire v. and require v.; compare ad- prefix and see discussion at that entry, and compare the following:1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 972/2 The Cardinall hath acquired at the commaundement of the Pope iij. thynges of me to be obserued.1624 T. Heywood Γυναικεῖον ii. 57 None at that age acquires after things unknown. With the form adquire compare ad- prefix.

a. transitive. To gain possession of through skill or effort; to obtain, develop, or secure in a careful, concerted, often gradual manner. Formerly also with †to or indirect object.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)]

wieldeOE

haveeOE

ofgoOE

oweOE

addlec1175

winc1175

avela1200

to come by ——a1225

covera1250

oughtc1275

reachc1275

hentc1300

purchasec1300

to come to ——c1330

getc1330

pickc1330

chevise1340

fang1340

umbracec1350

chacche1362

perceivea1382

accroacha1393

achievea1393

to come at ——a1393

areach1393

recovera1398

encroach?a1400

chevec1400

enquilec1400

obtainc1422

recurec1425

to take upc1425

acquirea1450

encheve1470

sortise1474

conques?a1500

tain1501

report1508

conquest1513

possess1526

compare1532

cough1550

coff1559

fall1568

reap1581

acquist1592

accrue1594

appurchasec1600

recoil1632

to get at ——1666

to come into ——1672

rise1754

net1765

to fall in for1788

to scare up1846

access1953

a1450 Seven Sages (Cambr. Dd.1.17) (1845) l. 1081 The childe were gode of lore, Ȝyt he wolde aqwere more.

?1504 W. Atkinson tr. Thomas à Kempis Ful Treat. Imytacyon Cryste (Pynson) i. xi. 160 It is one speciall meane to acquyre pease, nat to intermytte vs of the wordes & werkes of those that attayne nat to vs.

1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes ii. f. 211 An empier is ofte tymes by the sweord & by roughnesse purchaced or acquired, but the same not reteined.

1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. ii. 7 In the very..whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance, that may giue it smoothnesse.

a1651 D. Calderwood Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1843) III. 394 They acquired wealth by taking budds from such as had sutes to him.

a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 173 For what w'acquire by Pains and Art Is only due t'our own Desert.

1705 tr. W. Bosman New Descr. Coast of Guinea viii. 108 The Money we get here is indeed hardly enough acquired.

1766 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. II. xiv. 220 The first purchasor..is he who first acquired the estate to his family.

1797 Encycl. Brit. XII. 182/1 He spared no pains to acquire himself power and dominion.

1824 W. Irving Tales of Traveller (1849) 380 Wealth, which it was whispered he had acquired by buccaneering.

1876 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. 2nd Ser. vi. 243 He had..given his son the chance of acquiring a smattering of ‘scholarship’.

1906 A. G. Hyde G. Herbert & his Times ii. 24 At nine he began to learn Welsh, and between ten and twelve he acquired a knowledge of logic and Greek.

1994 Sci. Amer. Nov. 63/3 Parenting that is warm and responsive but exerts sufficient control to guide and encourage children to acquire new skills promotes competence.

2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 2 Oct. c27/1 John and Barbara Wilkerson..began acquiring Aboriginal paintings in 1994.

b. transitive. Business. To purchase (a company, or a controlling stake in a company); to buy out, make the subject of a corporate acquisition or merger.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > deal in stocks and shares [verb (transitive)] > specific operations

subscribe1618

to take up1655

to sell out1721

to take in1721

to take up1740

pool?1780

capitalize1797

put1814

feed1818

to vote (the) stock (or shares)1819

corner1836

to sell short1852

promote1853

recapitalize1856

refund1857

float1865

water1865

margin1870

unload1870

acquire1877

maintain1881

syndicate1882

scalp1886

pyramid1888

underwrite1889

oversubscribe1891

joint-stock1894

wash1895

write1908

mark1911

split1927

marry1931

stag1935

unwind1958

short1959

preplace1966

unitize1970

bed and breakfast1974

index-link1974

warehouse1977

daisy-chain1979

strip1981

greenmail1984

pull1986

1877 Law Times Rep. 37 666/1 In the year 1865 the amalgamated company was acquired by the defendants.

1944 Fortune Mar. 228/2 The stock of Imperial and British Airways was acquired, and the two companies were merged into BOAC.

1977 Economist 12 Feb. 77/1 Without section 54, companies might..ramp up their shares before making a paper bid in order to acquire a company on the cheap.

1994 Accountancy Sept. 82/2 Where a group acquires a company with pre-entry capital losses, those losses are ‘ring-fenced’ and cannot be used to shelter other group members' capital gains.

2008 Wall St. Jrnl. 19 Feb. c3/1 Blank-check companies, so called because they begin life as empty shells and use their IPO proceeds to acquire operating businesses.

a. transitive. Of a thing: to come to have or possess (a quality, feature, etc.), to attract, accrue; to develop or evolve (a new characteristic), esp. by virtue of a natural process.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > have or possess [verb (transitive)] > possess a condition or position

haveOE

hold1340

rejoicec1390

beara1393

possess?a1425

acquire1474

pack1925

1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iv. vii. 180 And yf the knyghtes..come to the ferthest lygne to fore them where theyr aduersaryes were sette. They [sc. the pawns] acquyre the dignyte that the quene hath graunted to her by grace [Fr. C'est leur fin et leur entente qu'il puissent acquerre par vertu et par force ce que les nobles ont par leur dignité].

?1541 R. Copland Galen's Fourth Bk. Terapeutyke sig. Di, in Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens Whan it [sc. an ulcer] is made as cruent in cuttynge the labyes..necessaryly it is made caued and acquyreth ryght great dystaunce of labyes.

1544 Bk. Chyldren in T. Phaer tr. J. Goeurot Regiment Lyfe (new ed.) sig. zv The said dysease acquyreth suche a strengthe aboue nature, that in processe of time it is vtterlye incurable.

1617 S. Collins Epphata to F. T. ii. x. 417 The elements by prayer acquire a degree of sanctification.

1644 K. Digby Two Treat. i. viii. 58 No slownesse that light can acquire by the resistance of the refracting body.

1693 T. P. Blount Nat. Hist. 42 Cinnamon..acquires its..strength by fifteen Days Sunning.

1799 Monthly Rev. 30 146 The tapetum appeared very bright, the retina not having acquired sufficient opacity to become visible.

1818 F. Accum Pract. Ess. Chem. Re-agents (ed. 2) 167 The mixture will acquire an orange colour.

1871 C. Darwin Descent of Man II. ii. xiii. 95 In the spring the feathers on the head of the male reed-bunting..acquire a fine black colour.

1933 L. Bloomfield Lang. xxi. 384 When a relatively sonorous phoneme is non-syllabic, it often acquires syllabic function.

1980 Amer. Speech 55 184 Groups of words already in the language that acquire fresh meanings by use in new situations.

2000 Which? Oct. 21/3 Strong old ales can mature beautifully, acquiring sherry-like characteristics.

b. transitive. To come to have or possess without specific effort or intent; to receive, develop; to gain accidentally or involuntarily, ‘pick up’.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)] > obtain or acquire in a certain way > by chance or opportunity

to pick up1448

acquire?1483

?1483 W. Caxton tr. Caton iv. sig. i.viii These fyue goodes acqueren the Iuste and good folke after their dethe.

a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1537) xlvii. f. 92^v Take hede my son, euery prince, doinge Iustice, acquireth ennemies in the execution therof.

1635 T. Jackson Humiliation Sonne of God viii. v. §5 All other habitual sinnes or vices are not acquired but by many unnecessitated vicious acts.

1650 H. Brooke Υγιεινη 156 Children being at first bred up restively, acquire a habit thereby, and cannot afterwards..change their course.

1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iii. x. 145 They acquired an additional Ghastliness in proportion to their number of Years.

1729 S. Switzer Introd. Gen. Syst. Hydrostaticks & Hydraulicks 176 We acquire..an Idea of Solidity by the Touch.

1758 Idler 10 June 73 The Idler acquires weight by lying still.

1843 N. Hawthorne in Boys' & Girls' Mag. Aug. 268/2 [He] was bred in Italy, where he acquired very idle habits.

1876 Mind 1 273 He has seen convalescents from mania distinctly acquire delusions of persecution, &c., from frequent intercourse with insane persons.

1898 Med. News 22 Jan. 107/1 The patient..acquired her disease, maritally and genitally, during June, 1897.

1920 Amer. Woman Aug. 9/3 The woman who has acquired blackheads..may begin to improve the texture of her skin by thoroughly cleansing it.

1999 Zameen Nov. 68/1 There are some tastes you acquire so early in life that they stay with you forever.

a. transitive. To attract or achieve (regard, or a specific reputation, name, etc.). Also with for, †to, or indirect object.

ΚΠ

1477 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Hist. Jason (1913) 7 By his valiance he shold acquire thonour of alle thassemblee.

1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour iii. xxv. f. 249^v Reputyng it great foly & madnes to acquire by the executyng of iustice..an opinion of tyrannye amonge the people.

1624 T. Gataker Discuss. Transubstant. 144 Thereby to acquire judgement or condemnation to themselves.

1663 J. Heath Flagellum vi, in Harl. Misc. (1753) I. 275 Hence he [sc. Cromwell] acquired that terrible Name of Ironsides.

1670–1 Act 22 & 23 Charles II c. 3 in Statutes of Realm (1819) V. 693 Severall persons..have gained and acquired unto themselves the Reputacion and Name of Bankers.

1711 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. i. 142 When he has acquir'd to himself a good stock of reputation perhaps he will not envy ours.

1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. Notes p. lvi/2 They had acquired much reputation by the use of the plumbatæ, or darts loaded with lead. Each soldier carried five of these.

1814 New Brit. Theatre I. 530 What glory might not any lady..acquire for herself were she..to succeed in getting up a Masque..on one of her nights.

1854 Calcutta Rev. 23 13 Many princes have acquired to themselves a name by erecting public works.

1965 C. Zigrosser & C. M. Gaehde Guide to Collecting Orig. Prints iii. 26 The reason steel-faced prints have acquired a bad name is that they have often been printed in a slipshod manner.

2003 New Yorker 7 July 72/3 The literary world is one of the easiest in which to acquire a bad-boy reputation, and Houellebecq duly obliged.

b. transitive. Of a quality, circumstance, etc.: to secure (influence, a name or reputation) to or for a person or thing. Also with indirect object. Now rare and archaic.

ΚΠ

1541 T. Elyot Image of Gouernance vii. f. 14 The haulte countenance and the difficulte accesse, whiche was in Tarquine the laste kynge Romaines, acquired to him that odiouse surname to be called Tarquine the proude.

a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) iv. iii. 72 The great dignitie that his valour hath here acquir'd for him.

1656 W. Montagu tr. J. Du Bosc Accomplish'd Woman 1 Such a kind of wit acquires us a command as powerful as pleasing.

1759 W. Robertson Hist. Scotl. (1817) I. ii. 382 Another circumstance contributed to acquire the Regent such considerable influence.

1761 tr. C. Batteux Course Belles Lettres III. iv. ii. 201 What he has done in any one species, or distinct kind of writing, would have been sufficient to have acquired him a very great name.

1864 Ladies' Repository Sept. 516/1 Corinne is the..shining, immortal work that first acquired her [sc. Mme. de Stael] a rank among great writers.

1872 S. D. Alexander Princeton Coll. during Eighteenth Cent. 112 It was doubtless this trait which acquired for him and his brother Samuel..the appellation..Botheration Primus, and Botheration Secundus.

1901 Jrnl. Trop. Med. 4 242/2 Bath waters cure the malarial cachezia in a manner that has acquired for them a special reputation.

†4. transitive. To attain through motion; to get to, reach. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > reaching a point or place > reach (a point or place) [verb (transitive)]

areach1014

reachOE

ofreachlOE

overtakec1225

catchc1330

acomec1350

touchc1384

getc1390

to come at ——a1393

henta1393

overreacha1400

win?1473

aspire1581

obtain1589

attainc1592

make1610

gaina1616

acquire1665

advene1684

1665 J. Glanvill Scepsis Scientifica xi. 60 Motion cannot be perceived without the perception of its Terms, viz. The parts of space which it immediately left, and those which it next acquires. Now the space left and acquir'd..in such slow progressions, is so inconsiderable, that, [etc.].

5. transitive. To achieve fluency in or command of (a language or an aspect of a language).

ΚΠ

1786 Madras Courier 25 Jan. 16/2 Our conference with the King, till we acquired the language, was by our linguist in Malay to the King's Malay slaves.

1844 Southern Q. Rev. July 189 A Spaniard who had been captured by the Indians in a previous expedition, who had acquired the Maya language.

1895 T. Hardy Jude i. v. 33 To acquire languages..was a herculean performance which gradually led him on to a greater interest in it than in the presupposed patent process.

1939 P. de V. Pienaar in Proc. 3rd Internat. Congr. Phonetic Sci. Ghent 1938 353 The Bantu and Hottentot children, when they acquire the language from their parents, at first have great difficulty with the click sounds.

1980 A. Kenny Aquinas iii. 76 Chomsky has argued that it is impossible to explain the rapidity with which children acquire the grammar of a language from the..utterances of their parents unless we postulate a species-specific innate language-learning ability.

2010 F. Grosjean Bilingual i. vii. 81 Early learning—acquiring a second or third language in early childhood, and using it extensively—is a good guarantee for ‘accentless’ speech.

6. transitive. Of a sensory device or something containing one: to begin receiving signals from (a source); to locate (and track) (an object or signal, esp. a military target). Originally Radar.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > instrument for detection > of instrument, etc.: detect [verb (transitive)] > locate or track

radiolocate1941

echolocate1944

to lock on to ——1945

radar-track1948

acquire1953

echo-sound1953

1953 M. H. Aronson Electronic Circuitry Instruments & Equipm. xv. 255 Search radars are used to acquire a target.

1962 A. Shepard in J. Glenn et al. Into Orbit 171 Once the spacecraft goes into orbit, the stations pass it on from one to the other... Their radar devices ‘acquire’ it first, then lock on to it and follow it until it leaves their area.

1970 N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon iv. 78 Apollo 11 about to be acquired at the Tananarive (Malagasy Republic) station.

1973 New Scientist 25 Oct. 267/2 The launching aircraft has first to acquire the hostile radar's transmission.

1991 Pop. Sci. Oct. 26/2 An E²I [sc. missile] can take two paths to the warhead: It can..arc out of the atmosphere to acquire its target and reenter as it homes in.

1996 T. Clancy SSN (2000) ix. 192 A minute never lasted so long as when you were waiting for torpedoes to acquire the enemy.

2010 Hindustan Times (Nexis) 1 June The handset's GPS capability is its biggest asset. Not only does it acquire satellites faster than any other handset,..the applications are extremely handy.

7. transitive. Computing. Of a computer: to gather (data) by means of a peripheral sensory device. Cf. data acquisition n. at data n. Compounds 2.

ΚΠ

1970 R. E. Jensen in J. P. Schadé & J. Smith Computers & Brains 8 By very simple programming for counting the number of heart beats, heart rate is acquired and displayed.

1986 New Scientist 26 4 (advt.) The maintenance and development of software necessary to analyse data acquired using both the UHF and VHF radars.

2002 P. Davis & S. Schwartz CorelDraw 10 for Windows xvi. 197 CorelDraw 10 can acquire images directly from a connected scanner, digital camera, or desktop video camera.

2007 Pop. Sci. Aug. 66 Detailed topographical data acquired during a flyover of the space shuttle Endeavour.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	acquire
释义	† acquiren. Forms: 1500s acquier. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: acquire v. Etymology: < acquire v. Obsolete. rare. The quality of being acquirable; abundance. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > sufficient quantity, amount, or degree > abundance > [noun] speedOE fulsomenesslOE wonea1300 fulsomeheada1325 cheapc1325 largitya1382 plenteousnessa1382 plenteoustea1382 plentya1382 abundancec1384 affluencec1390 largenessc1400 uberty?a1412 aboundingc1425 fullness1440 copiousness1447 rifenessc1450 copy1484 abundancy?1526 copiosity1543 plentifulness1555 ampleness1566 umberty?1578 acquire1592 amplitude1605 plentitude1609 plenitude1614 fertility1615 profluence1623 fluency1624 flushness1662 rowtha1689 sonsea1689 affluentness1727 raff1801 richness1814 1592 W. Wyrley Capitall de Buz in True Vse Armorie iii. 116 An English squier Had tane Flauigni, cald John Dalison, Wherein prouision was of great acquier, With as good wine as need would well desier. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2021). acquirev. Brit. /əˈkwʌɪə/, U.S. /əˈkwaɪ(ə)r/ Forms: late Middle English acquere, late Middle English aqwere, late Middle English–1500s acquyre, late Middle English– acquire, 1500s adquire, 1600s acquier; also Scottish pre-1700 acquire, pre-1700 acquyire, pre-1700 acquyr. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French acquer-, acquerre; Latin acquīrere. Etymology: Partly (i) < Anglo-Norman and Middle French acquer-, aquer-, aquerr-, stressed stem of Anglo-Norman and Middle French acquerre, aquere, aquerre (Middle French acquerir , French acquérir : see below), and partly (ii) < classical Latin acquīrere to get in addition, to obtain, to accrue to < ac- ac- prefix + quaerere to seek (see queer v.¹). Compare Old Occitan aquerre , aquerir , Catalan adquirir (15th cent.; also †acquerir ), Spanish aquerir (1414), Portuguese adquirir (1493; 15th cent. as †aquerer , †aquirir ). Compare earlier acquisition n.Anglo-Norman and Middle French acquerre , aquere , aquerre , Middle French acquerir is < an unattested post-classical Latin form acquaerere , alteration (after quaerere* to seek, to ask: see queer v.¹) of classical Latin acquīrere (see above), and is attested in the following chief senses: ‘to gain possession of (something), whether by purchase or in another way’ (12th cent. in Old French, with reference to both material objects and immaterial qualities or skills such as virtue, knowledge, prudence, etc.), ‘to gain (honour, friends, etc.)’ (first half of the 14th cent. or earlier), ‘to come to have or possess (a quality, feature, etc.)’ (1347 in the passage translated in quot. 1474 at sense 2a, or earlier). In early use, the verb is sometimes confused with inquire v. and require v.; compare ad- prefix and see discussion at that entry, and compare the following:1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 972/2 The Cardinall hath acquired at the commaundement of the Pope iij. thynges of me to be obserued.1624 T. Heywood Γυναικεῖον ii. 57 None at that age acquires after things unknown. With the form adquire compare ad- prefix. 1. a. transitive. To gain possession of through skill or effort; to obtain, develop, or secure in a careful, concerted, often gradual manner. Formerly also with †to or indirect object. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)] wieldeOE haveeOE ofgoOE oweOE addlec1175 winc1175 avela1200 to come by ——a1225 covera1250 oughtc1275 reachc1275 hentc1300 purchasec1300 to come to ——c1330 getc1330 pickc1330 chevise1340 fang1340 umbracec1350 chacche1362 perceivea1382 accroacha1393 achievea1393 to come at ——a1393 areach1393 recovera1398 encroach?a1400 chevec1400 enquilec1400 obtainc1422 recurec1425 to take upc1425 acquirea1450 encheve1470 sortise1474 conques?a1500 tain1501 report1508 conquest1513 possess1526 compare1532 cough1550 coff1559 fall1568 reap1581 acquist1592 accrue1594 appurchasec1600 recoil1632 to get at ——1666 to come into ——1672 rise1754 net1765 to fall in for1788 to scare up1846 access1953 a1450 Seven Sages (Cambr. Dd.1.17) (1845) l. 1081 The childe were gode of lore, Ȝyt he wolde aqwere more. ?1504 W. Atkinson tr. Thomas à Kempis Ful Treat. Imytacyon Cryste (Pynson) i. xi. 160 It is one speciall meane to acquyre pease, nat to intermytte vs of the wordes & werkes of those that attayne nat to vs. 1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes ii. f. 211 An empier is ofte tymes by the sweord & by roughnesse purchaced or acquired, but the same not reteined. 1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. ii. 7 In the very..whirlwind of your passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance, that may giue it smoothnesse. View more context for this quotation a1651 D. Calderwood Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1843) III. 394 They acquired wealth by taking budds from such as had sutes to him. a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 173 For what w'acquire by Pains and Art Is only due t'our own Desert. 1705 tr. W. Bosman New Descr. Coast of Guinea viii. 108 The Money we get here is indeed hardly enough acquired. 1766 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. II. xiv. 220 The first purchasor..is he who first acquired the estate to his family. 1797 Encycl. Brit. XII. 182/1 He spared no pains to acquire himself power and dominion. 1824 W. Irving Tales of Traveller (1849) 380 Wealth, which it was whispered he had acquired by buccaneering. 1876 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. 2nd Ser. vi. 243 He had..given his son the chance of acquiring a smattering of ‘scholarship’. 1906 A. G. Hyde G. Herbert & his Times ii. 24 At nine he began to learn Welsh, and between ten and twelve he acquired a knowledge of logic and Greek. 1994 Sci. Amer. Nov. 63/3 Parenting that is warm and responsive but exerts sufficient control to guide and encourage children to acquire new skills promotes competence. 2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 2 Oct. c27/1 John and Barbara Wilkerson..began acquiring Aboriginal paintings in 1994. b. transitive. Business. To purchase (a company, or a controlling stake in a company); to buy out, make the subject of a corporate acquisition or merger. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > deal in stocks and shares [verb (transitive)] > specific operations subscribe1618 to take up1655 to sell out1721 to take in1721 to take up1740 pool?1780 capitalize1797 put1814 feed1818 to vote (the) stock (or shares)1819 corner1836 to sell short1852 promote1853 recapitalize1856 refund1857 float1865 water1865 margin1870 unload1870 acquire1877 maintain1881 syndicate1882 scalp1886 pyramid1888 underwrite1889 oversubscribe1891 joint-stock1894 wash1895 write1908 mark1911 split1927 marry1931 stag1935 unwind1958 short1959 preplace1966 unitize1970 bed and breakfast1974 index-link1974 warehouse1977 daisy-chain1979 strip1981 greenmail1984 pull1986 1877 Law Times Rep. 37 666/1 In the year 1865 the amalgamated company was acquired by the defendants. 1944 Fortune Mar. 228/2 The stock of Imperial and British Airways was acquired, and the two companies were merged into BOAC. 1977 Economist 12 Feb. 77/1 Without section 54, companies might..ramp up their shares before making a paper bid in order to acquire a company on the cheap. 1994 Accountancy Sept. 82/2 Where a group acquires a company with pre-entry capital losses, those losses are ‘ring-fenced’ and cannot be used to shelter other group members' capital gains. 2008 Wall St. Jrnl. 19 Feb. c3/1 Blank-check companies, so called because they begin life as empty shells and use their IPO proceeds to acquire operating businesses. 2. a. transitive. Of a thing: to come to have or possess (a quality, feature, etc.), to attract, accrue; to develop or evolve (a new characteristic), esp. by virtue of a natural process. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > have or possess [verb (transitive)] > possess a condition or position haveOE hold1340 rejoicec1390 beara1393 possess?a1425 acquire1474 pack1925 1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iv. vii. 180 And yf the knyghtes..come to the ferthest lygne to fore them where theyr aduersaryes were sette. They [sc. the pawns] acquyre the dignyte that the quene hath graunted to her by grace [Fr. C'est leur fin et leur entente qu'il puissent acquerre par vertu et par force ce que les nobles ont par leur dignité]. ?1541 R. Copland Galen's Fourth Bk. Terapeutyke sig. Di, in Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens Whan it [sc. an ulcer] is made as cruent in cuttynge the labyes..necessaryly it is made caued and acquyreth ryght great dystaunce of labyes. 1544 Bk. Chyldren in T. Phaer tr. J. Goeurot Regiment Lyfe (new ed.) sig. zv The said dysease acquyreth suche a strengthe aboue nature, that in processe of time it is vtterlye incurable. 1617 S. Collins Epphata to F. T. ii. x. 417 The elements by prayer acquire a degree of sanctification. 1644 K. Digby Two Treat. i. viii. 58 No slownesse that light can acquire by the resistance of the refracting body. 1693 T. P. Blount Nat. Hist. 42 Cinnamon..acquires its..strength by fifteen Days Sunning. 1799 Monthly Rev. 30 146 The tapetum appeared very bright, the retina not having acquired sufficient opacity to become visible. 1818 F. Accum Pract. Ess. Chem. Re-agents (ed. 2) 167 The mixture will acquire an orange colour. 1871 C. Darwin Descent of Man II. ii. xiii. 95 In the spring the feathers on the head of the male reed-bunting..acquire a fine black colour. 1933 L. Bloomfield Lang. xxi. 384 When a relatively sonorous phoneme is non-syllabic, it often acquires syllabic function. 1980 Amer. Speech 55 184 Groups of words already in the language that acquire fresh meanings by use in new situations. 2000 Which? Oct. 21/3 Strong old ales can mature beautifully, acquiring sherry-like characteristics. b. transitive. To come to have or possess without specific effort or intent; to receive, develop; to gain accidentally or involuntarily, ‘pick up’. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)] > obtain or acquire in a certain way > by chance or opportunity to pick up1448 acquire?1483 ?1483 W. Caxton tr. Caton iv. sig. i.viii These fyue goodes acqueren the Iuste and good folke after their dethe. a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1537) xlvii. f. 92^v Take hede my son, euery prince, doinge Iustice, acquireth ennemies in the execution therof. 1635 T. Jackson Humiliation Sonne of God viii. v. §5 All other habitual sinnes or vices are not acquired but by many unnecessitated vicious acts. 1650 H. Brooke Υγιεινη 156 Children being at first bred up restively, acquire a habit thereby, and cannot afterwards..change their course. 1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iii. x. 145 They acquired an additional Ghastliness in proportion to their number of Years. 1729 S. Switzer Introd. Gen. Syst. Hydrostaticks & Hydraulicks 176 We acquire..an Idea of Solidity by the Touch. 1758 Idler 10 June 73 The Idler acquires weight by lying still. 1843 N. Hawthorne in Boys' & Girls' Mag. Aug. 268/2 [He] was bred in Italy, where he acquired very idle habits. 1876 Mind 1 273 He has seen convalescents from mania distinctly acquire delusions of persecution, &c., from frequent intercourse with insane persons. 1898 Med. News 22 Jan. 107/1 The patient..acquired her disease, maritally and genitally, during June, 1897. 1920 Amer. Woman Aug. 9/3 The woman who has acquired blackheads..may begin to improve the texture of her skin by thoroughly cleansing it. 1999 Zameen Nov. 68/1 There are some tastes you acquire so early in life that they stay with you forever. 3. a. transitive. To attract or achieve (regard, or a specific reputation, name, etc.). Also with for, †to, or indirect object. ΚΠ 1477 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Hist. Jason (1913) 7 By his valiance he shold acquire thonour of alle thassemblee. 1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour iii. xxv. f. 249^v Reputyng it great foly & madnes to acquire by the executyng of iustice..an opinion of tyrannye amonge the people. 1624 T. Gataker Discuss. Transubstant. 144 Thereby to acquire judgement or condemnation to themselves. 1663 J. Heath Flagellum vi, in Harl. Misc. (1753) I. 275 Hence he [sc. Cromwell] acquired that terrible Name of Ironsides. 1670–1 Act 22 & 23 Charles II c. 3 in Statutes of Realm (1819) V. 693 Severall persons..have gained and acquired unto themselves the Reputacion and Name of Bankers. 1711 in 10th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1885) App. i. 142 When he has acquir'd to himself a good stock of reputation perhaps he will not envy ours. 1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. Notes p. lvi/2 They had acquired much reputation by the use of the plumbatæ, or darts loaded with lead. Each soldier carried five of these. 1814 New Brit. Theatre I. 530 What glory might not any lady..acquire for herself were she..to succeed in getting up a Masque..on one of her nights. 1854 Calcutta Rev. 23 13 Many princes have acquired to themselves a name by erecting public works. 1965 C. Zigrosser & C. M. Gaehde Guide to Collecting Orig. Prints iii. 26 The reason steel-faced prints have acquired a bad name is that they have often been printed in a slipshod manner. 2003 New Yorker 7 July 72/3 The literary world is one of the easiest in which to acquire a bad-boy reputation, and Houellebecq duly obliged. b. transitive. Of a quality, circumstance, etc.: to secure (influence, a name or reputation) to or for a person or thing. Also with indirect object. Now rare and archaic. ΚΠ 1541 T. Elyot Image of Gouernance vii. f. 14 The haulte countenance and the difficulte accesse, whiche was in Tarquine the laste kynge Romaines, acquired to him that odiouse surname to be called Tarquine the proude. a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) iv. iii. 72 The great dignitie that his valour hath here acquir'd for him. View more context for this quotation 1656 W. Montagu tr. J. Du Bosc Accomplish'd Woman 1 Such a kind of wit acquires us a command as powerful as pleasing. 1759 W. Robertson Hist. Scotl. (1817) I. ii. 382 Another circumstance contributed to acquire the Regent such considerable influence. 1761 tr. C. Batteux Course Belles Lettres III. iv. ii. 201 What he has done in any one species, or distinct kind of writing, would have been sufficient to have acquired him a very great name. 1864 Ladies' Repository Sept. 516/1 Corinne is the..shining, immortal work that first acquired her [sc. Mme. de Stael] a rank among great writers. 1872 S. D. Alexander Princeton Coll. during Eighteenth Cent. 112 It was doubtless this trait which acquired for him and his brother Samuel..the appellation..Botheration Primus, and Botheration Secundus. 1901 Jrnl. Trop. Med. 4 242/2 Bath waters cure the malarial cachezia in a manner that has acquired for them a special reputation. †4. transitive. To attain through motion; to get to, reach. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement towards a thing, person, or position > reaching a point or place > reach (a point or place) [verb (transitive)] areach1014 reachOE ofreachlOE overtakec1225 catchc1330 acomec1350 touchc1384 getc1390 to come at ——a1393 henta1393 overreacha1400 win?1473 aspire1581 obtain1589 attainc1592 make1610 gaina1616 acquire1665 advene1684 1665 J. Glanvill Scepsis Scientifica xi. 60 Motion cannot be perceived without the perception of its Terms, viz. The parts of space which it immediately left, and those which it next acquires. Now the space left and acquir'd..in such slow progressions, is so inconsiderable, that, [etc.]. 5. transitive. To achieve fluency in or command of (a language or an aspect of a language). ΚΠ 1786 Madras Courier 25 Jan. 16/2 Our conference with the King, till we acquired the language, was by our linguist in Malay to the King's Malay slaves. 1844 Southern Q. Rev. July 189 A Spaniard who had been captured by the Indians in a previous expedition, who had acquired the Maya language. 1895 T. Hardy Jude i. v. 33 To acquire languages..was a herculean performance which gradually led him on to a greater interest in it than in the presupposed patent process. 1939 P. de V. Pienaar in Proc. 3rd Internat. Congr. Phonetic Sci. Ghent 1938 353 The Bantu and Hottentot children, when they acquire the language from their parents, at first have great difficulty with the click sounds. 1980 A. Kenny Aquinas iii. 76 Chomsky has argued that it is impossible to explain the rapidity with which children acquire the grammar of a language from the..utterances of their parents unless we postulate a species-specific innate language-learning ability. 2010 F. Grosjean Bilingual i. vii. 81 Early learning—acquiring a second or third language in early childhood, and using it extensively—is a good guarantee for ‘accentless’ speech. 6. transitive. Of a sensory device or something containing one: to begin receiving signals from (a source); to locate (and track) (an object or signal, esp. a military target). Originally Radar. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > instrument for detection > of instrument, etc.: detect [verb (transitive)] > locate or track radiolocate1941 echolocate1944 to lock on to ——1945 radar-track1948 acquire1953 echo-sound1953 1953 M. H. Aronson Electronic Circuitry Instruments & Equipm. xv. 255 Search radars are used to acquire a target. 1962 A. Shepard in J. Glenn et al. Into Orbit 171 Once the spacecraft goes into orbit, the stations pass it on from one to the other... Their radar devices ‘acquire’ it first, then lock on to it and follow it until it leaves their area. 1970 N. Armstrong et al. First on Moon iv. 78 Apollo 11 about to be acquired at the Tananarive (Malagasy Republic) station. 1973 New Scientist 25 Oct. 267/2 The launching aircraft has first to acquire the hostile radar's transmission. 1991 Pop. Sci. Oct. 26/2 An E²I [sc. missile] can take two paths to the warhead: It can..arc out of the atmosphere to acquire its target and reenter as it homes in. 1996 T. Clancy SSN (2000) ix. 192 A minute never lasted so long as when you were waiting for torpedoes to acquire the enemy. 2010 Hindustan Times (Nexis) 1 June The handset's GPS capability is its biggest asset. Not only does it acquire satellites faster than any other handset,..the applications are extremely handy. 7. transitive. Computing. Of a computer: to gather (data) by means of a peripheral sensory device. Cf. data acquisition n. at data n. Compounds 2. ΚΠ 1970 R. E. Jensen in J. P. Schadé & J. Smith Computers & Brains 8 By very simple programming for counting the number of heart beats, heart rate is acquired and displayed. 1986 New Scientist 26 4 (advt.) The maintenance and development of software necessary to analyse data acquired using both the UHF and VHF radars. 2002 P. Davis & S. Schwartz CorelDraw 10 for Windows xvi. 197 CorelDraw 10 can acquire images directly from a connected scanner, digital camera, or desktop video camera. 2007 Pop. Sci. Aug. 66 Detailed topographical data acquired during a flyover of the space shuttle Endeavour. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.1592v.a1450
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† acquiren.

acquirev.