Etymologically
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acquiro

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [akˈkʷiː.roː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [akˈkʷiː.ro][1]

Forms

acquīrō (present infinitive acquīrere, perfect active acquīsīvī, supine acquīsītum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from ad- “to” and quaerō “to seek”, and is also spelled ⟨adquīrō⟩, and Varro explains it as ⟨ad⟩ and ⟨quaerere⟩.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Cicero, of acquiring goods and other things.[2] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to add to one's possessions, acquire goods or money, and to obtain adherents, positions, qualities, and Lewis and Short call it frequent in Cicero.[2][5] In Horace it meant to add to a stock, and in the passive to accrue to.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to procure, acquire.[6] Through Vulgar Latin *acquaerere and Old French aquerre it gave English acquire in the mid-15th century.[7] It was borrowed as Spanish and Portuguese adquirir.[1]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of acquiring.[2][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of adding to a stock.[2][4]
  • mid-15th century – English acquire is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To acquire, obtain.[2]
  2. To add to, (passive) to accrue.[2]

Word family

  • acquīsītiō
  • acquisitrix

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com