ac·quire (?-kw?r?)tr.v. ac·quired, ac·quir·ing, ac·quires 1. To gain possession of: acquire 100 shares of stock.2. To get by one’s own efforts: acquire proficiency in math.3. To gain through experience; come by: acquired a growing dislike of television sitcoms.4. To locate (a target) with an aiming device or a tracking system, such as radar.[Middle English acquere, from Old French aquerre, from Latin acqu?rere, to add to : ad-, ad- + quaerere, to seek, get.]ac·quir?a·ble adj.ac·quir?er n.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.acquire (??kwa??) vb (tr) to get or gain (something, such as an object, trait, or ability), esp more or less permanently[C15: via Old French from Latin acqu?rere, from ad- in addition + quaerere to get, seek] ac?quirable adj ac?quirement n ac?quirer nCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014ac?quire (??kwa??r) v.t. -quired, -quir?ing. 1. to come into possession or ownership of; get as one’s own. 2. to gain for oneself through one’s actions or efforts: to acquire learning. 3. to gain through experience of or exposure to something: an acquired taste. 4. Ling. to achieve native or nativelike command of (a language or a linguistic rule or element). 5. to locate and track (a moving target) with a detector, as radar. [1400?50;