acquire

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

• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˈkwaɪɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈkwaɪə/

• Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: ac‧quire

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.

   to acquire a skill

   to acquire decent habits and manners

   He acquired a title.

   All the riches he acquired were from hard work.

   One should acquire as much knowledge as possible from reading.

   • 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.
5. (Canada, US, military) To begin tracking a mobile target with a particular detector or sight, generally with the implication that an attack on the target thereby becomes possible.

• (get, gain): attain, come by, earn, gain, obtain, procure, secure, win

• (antonym(s) of “get, gain”): abandon, lose

• acquisition
• acquirement
• acquisitive
• acquisitory

• obtain
• reach

acquīre

1. second-person singular present active imperative of acquīrō