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 of acquisition

• accession

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

That figure includes both acquisitions of entire companies and license deals for specific experimental drugs or types of technology , such as gene editing. — Jeff Marks,kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 15 Sep. 2026

The injury caused the Baltimore Ravens to rescind their acquisition of him in March, failing him on his physical and sending him back to Las Vegas. — Sam Warren, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026

In the early stages, an aspiring short seller should seek knowledge acquisition more than financial windfalls. — David Capablanca, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2026

Beauty’s acquisition of Rhode and L’Oréal’s majority stake in Medik8, both said to be in the billion-dollar range and many in between, Jeannette Smits van Oyen has overseen some of the biggest recent deals inside — and outside — of beauty. — Wwd Staff, Footwear News, 14 Sep. 2026

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

Rhymes for acquisition

• abolition
• admonition
• ammunition
• apparition
• apposition
• coalition
• competition
• composition
• definition
• deglutition
• demolition
• deposition

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