procure

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English procuren,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman procurer and Middle French procurer, now procurer,^{[5][6][7][3][2]} and partly borrowed from Latin prōcūrō,^[5][2][7][6] in Late Latin "to obtain", in classical Latin "to take care of, attend to, manage",^[8][9] formed from prō- (“for, on behalf of”) and cūrō (“to care for”),^[3][6][10] from cūra (“care”),^[3] the source of cure.^[11] The French verb is recorded with the sense "to have the care of" from 1180, "to intercede, plead" from the mid-13th century, "to cause, bring about" from the late 13th century and "to obtain" from about 1290.^[5] In Anglo-Norman it is recorded from about 1270, meaning to cause, arrange, bring about, obtain, and also to induce someone to commit an unlawful act or to bribe a jury.^[12] Ayto sums up the Latin sense as "to look after on behalf of someone else, manage".^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

To contrive or devise with care, to try to bring about, especially to bring something harmful upon a person: about 1300, in a life of Saint Thomas Becket printed in Horstmann's Early South-English Legendary.^[5] Etymonline also dates the word to about 1300, in the sense "bring about, cause, effect",^[6] and Barnhart to probably before 1300, in Arthour and Merlin, meaning "cause, bring about, recruit, entice".^[7]

Semantic evolution

The Middle English verb meant mainly to cause or bring about something, to bring something upon someone, and to induce or persuade a person to do something, including bribing them.^[2][5] The sense "to obtain, acquire, especially with care or effort", now the usual one, is recorded from about 1325, in Robert of Gloucester's chronicle.^[5] Ayto explains that it developed through "take care of" and "bring about", and Weekley that a dative of the person is understood: one procures something for oneself.^[11][13] Other senses died out: to endeavour or strive (before 1325 to 1608), and in law, to suborn or bribe a witness or a juror (1433 to 1620).^[5] From before 1616, in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, the verb was used of acting as a pander,^[5][13] and since 1891 of obtaining a woman as a prostitute for another person.^[5] In criminal law it still means to persuade someone to do something.^[5] In Worcestershire and Gloucestershire it was also used for curing bacon.^[14] Johnson (1755) listed "to manage; to transact for another" first and "to obtain; to acquire" second.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – to contrive or try to bring about, especially harm upon someone (obsolete by 1678).^[5][6]
• before 1325 – to induce or persuade a person to do something.^[5]
• c. 1325 – to obtain or acquire, especially with care or effort.^[5]
• c. 1330 – to bring about or cause.^[5]
• 1433 – in law, to suborn or bribe a witness or juror (obsolete by 1620).^[5]
• before 1616 – to act as a procurer or pander, in Shakespeare.^[5]
• 1891 – to obtain a woman as a prostitute for another person.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To obtain or acquire something, especially with care or effort: The museum managed to procure a rare manuscript.^[16][8][5]
2. To obtain a person as a prostitute or sexual partner for someone else.^[16][8][5]
3. (archaic) To bring about or cause, especially with care or effort.^[5][17]
4. (law) To persuade or induce someone to do something.^[5][17]

Word family

• procurable
• procurement
• procuracy
• procurator
• unprocured

Related words

• procurer
• procuress
• proxy
• cure
• procuration

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
12. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
13. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
16. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
17. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press