Etymologically
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procurement

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 26 October 2026 at 00:30. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /pɹəˈkjʊə.mənt/[1]
  • US: /pɹəˈkjʊəɹ.mənt/, /pɹoʊˈkjʊəɹ.mənt/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English procure + -ment,[2][3] partly modelled on Anglo-Norman procurement (“management, administration; persuasion”), a noun also used in Middle French,[2] and partly on Medieval Latin procuramentum.[2][4] Merriam-Webster and Etymonline derive it instead through French, from Old French procurer (“to care for; to bring about; to obtain”) with the suffix -ment.[3][4] The verb procure goes back to Latin prōcūrō (“to take care of, manage”), formed from prō- (“for”) and cūrō (“to care for”), from cūra (“care”).[5][4] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from 1293, meaning persuasion, instigation and arrangement, and also improper persuasion or inducement.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The causing or arranging of something, especially through another person; instigation: before 1325, in the Statutes of the Realm.[2] Etymonline dates the word to about 1300 in the sense "use of improper influence".[4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, bringing something about through an agent, is still in use;[2] Etymonline dates the meaning "process of bringing something about" to about 1400.[4] From 1569, in Arthur Golding's translation of Hemmingsen, the word also meant the action of obtaining something, an acquisition,[2] and in the early 17th century it could name an agent or means (1601–20), a use now obsolete.[2] Johnson (1755) defined it simply as "the act of procuring", quoting Dryden's Aurengzebe: "By her procurement".[7] The modern sense, the obtaining of equipment and supplies, began as a military term: the OED's first example is from the Washington Post of 1918, and the word then passed into business use for buying goods and services on the best terms.[2] Etymonline dates the military meaning only to 1949, in American English.[4]

Timeline

  • before 1325 – the causing or bringing about of something through an agent; instigation.[2]
  • 1569 – the action of obtaining something.[2]
  • 1601 – an agent or means (obsolete by 1620).[2]
  • 1755 – Johnson defines it as the act of procuring.[7]
  • 1918 – military: the obtaining of equipment and supplies.[2]
  • 1949 – Etymonline's date for the military sense, in American English.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of obtaining or acquiring something: the procurement of a bank loan.[8][3][2]
  2. (commerce) The purchasing of goods, equipment or services, especially by a government or large organization; also used before another noun, as in procurement officer: The ministry reformed its procurement of military aircraft.[8][2]
  3. The act of causing or bringing something about, especially through someone else; instigation.[2][7]

Word family

  • nonprocurement
  • procure
  • procurator
  • cure

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  7. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins