purchase English · revision 3851

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1297|origins=fro porchacier}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈpɜː.tʃəs/, US /ˈpɝː.tʃəs/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|purchasen]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|xno|purchaser|t=to go after]], Old French porchacier, pourchacier “to seek to obtain, procure; pursue eagerly”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|fro|pur-|t=forth]], from Latin prō-, perhaps as an intensive,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) and [[m|fro|chacier|t=to run after, hunt, chase]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[chase]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To try to procure or bring about, to contrive: 1297 in the OED.^(OED 1989) Barnhart dates the verb to probably before 1300, in ''Arthour and Merlin'' and ''Kyng Alisaunder'', as “acquire, buy; bring about; hire”,^(Barnhart 1988) and the noun purchas, “booty, spoil”, to the same time.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As Trench explained, the word properly meant to hunt, then to take in hunting, then to acquire, and finally, since the commonest way of acquiring is by paying money, to buy;^(Trench 1859) in the six uses in the King James New Testament the idea of buying is never present.^(Trench 1859) At first it meant to obtain anything due, even through merit or suffering;^(Etymonline) “to acquire by paying money, to buy” is from the mid-14th century,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) though “to obtain by conquest, as booty” lasted into the 17th century.^(Etymonline) The noun meant gain or possessions, and especially booty; to ''make purchase'' was to seize by robbery,^(Etymonline) and ''wif of purchase'' was a concubine in the early 14th century.^(Etymonline) Something bought is from the 1580s.^(Etymonline) The nautical verb “to haul up, especially an anchor”, from the 1560s, gave the noun “firm hold for applying power” in 1711.^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1297 – to contrive; the chase.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – noun, booty.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-14th century – to buy.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1560s – nautical, to haul in.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1580s – something bought.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1711 – a firm hold.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To obtain in exchange for money; to [[buy]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To acquire by effort or sacrifice.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To move or hold with a [[lever]] or other device.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of buying, or something bought.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A firm hold or grip, used to move something or keep it from slipping.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A device, such as a [[tackle]], for gaining mechanical advantage.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[purchaser]]

+ * [[purchasable]]

+ * [[counterpurchase]]

+ * [[mispurchase]]

+ * [[nonpurchase]]

+ * [[overpurchase]]

+ * [[prepurchase]]

+ * [[repurchase]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chase]]

+ * [[catch]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}