Is acquisitions a word

Other forms: acquisitions

An acquisition is something you acquire — a book, a skill or if you are a mogul, a company. It describes things you have purchased, things you have learned, or things you have gotten.

Acquisition has a formal sense to it. We don’t talk about our new jeans as our latest acquisition, unless we are the kind of person who refers to their latest copy of Vogue as their Bible. It is very commonly used to refer to paintings purchased by museums — in fact, large museums have acquisition departments.

Definitions of acquisition

1. “a recent
   acquisition by the museum”

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   types:

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   accession, addition

   something added to what you already have

   purchase

   something acquired by purchase

   gift

   something acquired without compensation

   stock buyback

   a corporation’s purchase of its own outstanding stock; increases earnings/share so stock price rises (which can discourage a takeover attempt)

   bargain, buy, steal

   an advantageous purchase

   bequest, legacy

   (law) a gift of personal property by will

   devise

   (law) a gift of real property by will

   free lunch

   something acquired without effort or payment or obligation

   dower, dowery, dowry, portion

   money or property brought by a woman to her husband at marriage

   bride price

   money or property given (in some societies) by the bridegroom to the family of his bride

   largess, largesse

   a gift or money given (as for service or out of benevolence); usually given ostentatiously

   aid, economic aid, financial aid

   money to support a worthy person or cause

   award, prize

   something given for victory or superiority in a contest or competition or for winning a lottery

   present

   something presented as a gift

   contribution, donation

   a voluntary gift (as of money or service or ideas) made to some worthwhile cause

   enrichment

   a gift that significantly increases the recipient’s wealth

   lagniappe

   a small gift (especially one given by a merchant to a customer who makes a purchase)

   bestowal, bestowment

   a gift that is bestowed or conferred

   freebee, freebie, swag

   something that is free (usually provided as part of a promotional scheme)

   giveaway

   a gift of public land or resources for the private gain of a limited group

   gift horse

   a gift (usually of inferior quality) that should be accepted uncritically

   offering

   something presented to a deity as a sacrifice or symbol of devotion

   expense

   something for which one is required to pay money

   type of:

   transferred possession, transferred property

   a possession whose ownership changes or lapses

2. noun

   the act of contracting or assuming or acquiring possession of something

   “the
   acquisition of wealth”

   “the
   acquisition of one company by another”

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   incurring

   acquiring or coming into something (usually undesirable)

   moneymaking

   the act of making money (and accumulating wealth)

   annexation

   the formal act of acquiring something (especially territory) by conquest or occupation

   pork-barreling

   acquisition of government money for benefits to a specific locale

   purchase

   the acquisition of something for payment

   acceptance

   the act of taking something that is offered

   succession, taking over

   acquisition of property by descent or by will

   assumption, laying claim

   the act of taking possession of or power over something

   heritage, inheritance

   hereditary succession to a title or an office or property

   procural, procurance, procurement

   the act of getting possession of something

   regaining, restitution, restoration, return

   getting something back again

   buyout

   acquisition of a company by purchasing a controlling percentage of its stock

   buyback, redemption, repurchase

   the act of purchasing back something previously sold

   buying, purchasing

   the act of buying

   clawback

   finding a way to take money back from people that they were given in another way

   leveraged buyout

   a buyout using borrowed money; the target company’s assets are usually security for the loan

   strategic buyout

   an acquisition based on analysis of the benefits of consolidation in anticipation of increased earning power

   takeover

   a change by sale or merger in the controlling interest of a corporation

   type of:

   acquiring, getting

   the act of acquiring something

3. noun

   the cognitive process of acquiring skill or knowledge

   “the child’s
   acquisition of language”

   synonyms:

   learning

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   types:

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   conditioning

   a learning process in which an organism’s behavior becomes dependent on the occurrence of a stimulus in its environment

   developmental learning

   learning that takes place as a normal part of cognitive development

   digestion

   learning and coming to understand ideas and information

   education

   the gradual process of acquiring knowledge

   incorporation, internalisation, internalization

   learning (of values or attitudes etc.) that is incorporated within yourself

   imprinting

   a learning process in early life whereby species specific patterns of behavior are established

   language learning

   learning to use a language

   committal to memory, memorisation, memorization

   learning so as to be able to remember verbatim

   study, work

   applying the mind to learning and understanding a subject (especially by reading)

   carry-over, transfer, transfer of training

   application of a skill learned in one situation to a different but similar situation

   introjection

   (psychology) unconscious internalization of aspects of the world (especially aspects of persons) within the self in such a way that the internalized representation takes over the psychological functions of the external objects

   introjection

   (psychoanalysis) the internalization of the parent figures and their values; leads to the formation of the superego

   audio lingual acquisition

   system of language acquisition focusing intensively on listening and speaking

   rote, rote learning

   memorization by repetition

   accommodation

   in the theories of Jean Piaget: the modification of internal representations in order to accommodate a changing knowledge of reality

   assimilation

   in the theories of Jean Piaget: the application of a general schema to a particular instance

   generalisation, generalization, stimulus generalisation, stimulus generalization

   (psychology) transfer of a response learned to one stimulus to a similar stimulus

   acculturation, assimilation

   the process of assimilating new ideas into an existing cognitive structure

   mastering

   becoming proficient in the use of something; having mastery of

   self-cultivation, self-education

   the process of educating yourself

   school, schooling

   the process of being formally educated at a school

   special education

   education of physically or mentally handicapped children whose needs cannot be met in an ordinary classroom

   vocational education, vocational training

   training for a specific vocation in industry or agriculture or trade

   experimental extinction, extinction

   a conditioning process in which the reinforcer is removed and a conditioned response becomes independent of the conditioned stimulus

   aversive conditioning

   conditioning to avoid an aversive stimulus

   classical conditioning

   conditioning that pairs a neutral stimulus with a stimulus that evokes a reflex; the stimulus that evokes the reflex is given whether or not the conditioned response occurs until eventually the neutral stimulus comes to evoke the reflex

   operant conditioning

   conditioning in which an operant response is brought under stimulus control by virtue of presenting reinforcement contingent upon the occurrence of the operant response

   counter conditioning

   conditioning in which a second incompatible response is conditioned to an already conditioned stimulus

   type of:

   basic cognitive process

   cognitive processes involved in obtaining and storing knowledge

4. noun

   an ability that has been acquired by training

: the act of acquiring something

: something or someone acquired or gained

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.

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Recent Examples on the Web

But just as Moody finally gaining some traction in the Warriors’ rotation last month, trade-deadline acquisition Gary Payton II returned from a core-muscle injury and ate into Moody’s playing time.


—Connor Letourneau, San Francisco Chronicle, 4 Apr. 2023




Other notable acquisitions include live events company On Location and Professional Bull Riders.


—Wendy Lee, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2023




Industry experts had viewed WWE as an attractive acquisition target given its global reach and loyal fanbase, which includes everyone from minors to seniors and a wide range of incomes.


—Michelle Chapman, Chicago Tribune, 3 Apr. 2023




Baltimore is already down two of its key relievers, with setup man Dillon Tate (right elbow flexor strain) and free-agent acquisition Mychal Givens (left knee inflammation) starting the season on the injured list.


—Nathan Ruiz, Baltimore Sun, 2 Apr. 2023




The resignation of trustees at Cano Health and internal boardroom drama surrounding them comes at a time such companies are hot acquisition targets.


—Bruce Japsen, Forbes, 1 Apr. 2023




One study found that prices for the services provided by physicians increase by an average of 14 percent after a hospital acquisition.


—Markian Hawryluk, Washington Post, 1 Apr. 2023




The company has made more than 70 acquisitions over the years, and McKim expects to stay involved with deal-making in the future, in part because of his extensive network in the industry.


—Jon Chesto, BostonGlobe.com, 31 Mar. 2023




Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp., the special-purpose acquisition company trying to merge with former President Donald Trump’s social-media company, rose Friday.


—Will Feuer, WSJ, 31 Mar. 2023


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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘acquisition.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler

The first known use of acquisition was
in the 15th century