acquisition

noun

ac·​qui·​si·​tion ˌa-kwə-ˈzi-shən 

plural acquisitions

1

: the act of acquiring something

acquisition of property

the acquisition of knowledge

2

: something or someone acquired or gained

The team announced two new acquisitions.

acquisitional

ˌa-kwə-ˈzi-sh(ə-)nəl 

adjective

acquisitor

ə-ˈkwi-zə-tər 

noun

Synonyms

• accession
• obtainment

Examples of acquisition in a Sentence

Steven Schwartzman, the billionaire CEO of Blackstone, suffers no personal liquidity problems. But his firm, and others like it—have had to call off a series of proposed acquisitions because they can't get financing. —Daniel Gross, Newsweek, 3 Mar. 2008

The gifting of books, too, endured as a legacy of our book hunting. I quickly learned not to ask for newly published books as birthday or Christmas presents, since they provided my father with too little of a challenge. The measure of a gift's value was the amount of thought and effort that went into its acquisition. —Charles Mitchell, Bloomsbury Review, November/December 2002

McKnight and Ward, free-agent acquisitions who each have only one full season as a starter, have brought much-needed speed to the position. But rookie Chris Chambers, a second-round draft pick from Wisconsin, is the jewel. —Jeffri Chadiha, Sports Illustrated, 1 Oct. 2000

the country's acquisition of new ships

The big company's newest acquisition is a small chain of clothing stores.

The museum has put its latest acquisitions on display.

Recent Examples on the Web

This acquisition utilizes a proprietary SEM platform for managing and scaling SEM campaigns. —Quartz Bot, Quartz, 15 Nov. 2024

Trump has already shown a willingness to go after media companies by pressuring regulatory agencies to apply more scrutiny to certain mergers and acquisitions. —Sara Fischer, Axios, 5 Nov. 2024

Consider partnerships or acquisitions to build CX capabilities rapidly. —Amy Packard Berry, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024

The gap between the launch and international distribution acquisition is unusually long for TV, but includes scope for future episodes of the drama. —Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English adquysicyoun, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French acquisition, borrowed from Latin acquīsītiōn-, acquīsītiō, from acquīsī- (variant stem of acquīrere "to acquire") + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of action nouns

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing acquisition

• special purpose acquisition company

Kids Definition

acquisition

noun

ac·​qui·​si·​tion ˌak-wə-ˈzish-ən 

1

: the act of acquiring

2

: something acquired

Legal Definition

acquisition

noun

ac·​qui·​si·​tion ˌa-kwə-ˈzi-shən 

1

: the act or action of acquiring

specifically : the obtaining of controlling interest in a company compare merger, takeover

2

: a thing gained or acquired