acquisition
n. C / Un. the act of getting or buying something, like a new skill or a company. In business and tech, it often means one company buying another.
n. the act of gaining possession of an asset or the process of developing a skill or habit. Often refers specifically to the purchase of one company by another or the process of learning a first or second language.
The company announced its latest acquisition today.
The tech giant's recent acquisition of the smaller startup aims to integrate new artificial intelligence features into their existing software.
Language acquisition occurs most naturally during early childhood, whereas adult learners often rely on more structured pedagogical methods to achieve comparable levels of fluency and grammatical precision.
From Middle English, borrowed from Old French acquisicion, from Latin acquisītiō, from acquirere; equivalent to acquire + -ition.
Uncountable when referring to the general process of gaining something; countable when referring to a specific item or company that has been bought.