Part 71

Acquiet his mind from stirring you against your own peace. Sir A. Sherley.

Ac*quir"a*bil"i*ty (&?;), n. The quality of being acquirable; attainableness. [R.] Paley.

Ac*quir"a*ble (&?;), a. Capable of being acquired.

Ac*quire" (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Acquired (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Acquiring (&?;).] [L. acquirere, acquisitum; ad + quarere to seek for. In OE. was a verb aqueren, fr. the same, through OF. aquerre. See Quest..] To gain, usually by one's own exertions; to get as one's own; as, to acquire a title, riches, knowledge, skill, good or bad habits.

No virtue is acquired in an instant, but step by step. Barrow.

Descent is the title whereby a man, on the death of his ancestor, acquires his estate, by right of representation, as his heir at law. Blackstone.

Syn. -- To obtain; gain; attain; procure; win; earn; secure. See Obtain.

Ac*quire"ment (-ment), n. The act of acquiring, or that which is acquired; attainment. "Rules for the acquirement of a taste." Addison.

His acquirements by industry were . . . enriched and enlarged by many excellent endowments of nature. Hayward.

Syn. -- Acquisition, Acquirement. Acquirement is used in opposition to a natural gift or talent; as, eloquence, and skill in music and painting, are acquirements; genius is the gift or endowment of nature. It denotes especially personal attainments, in opposition to material or external things gained, which are more usually called acquisitions; but this distinction is not always observed.

Ac*quir"er (&?;), n. A person who acquires.

Ac*quir"y (&?;), n. Acquirement. [Obs.] Barrow.

Ac"qui*site (&?;), a. [L. acquisitus, p. p. of acquirere. See Acquire.] Acquired. [Obs.] Burton.

Ac`qui*si"tion (&?;), n. [L. acquisitio, fr. acquirere: cf. F. acquisition. See Acquire.] 1. The act or process of acquiring.

The acquisition or loss of a province. Macaulay.

2. The thing acquired or gained; an acquirement; a gain; as, learning is an acquisition.

Syn. -- See Acquirement.

Ac*quis"i*tive (&?;), a. 1. Acquired. [Obs.]

He died not in his acquisitive, but in his native soil. Wotton.

2. Able or disposed to make acquisitions; acquiring; as, an acquisitive person or disposition.

Ac*quis"i*tive*ly, adv. In the way of acquisition.

Ac*quis"i*tive*ness, n. 1. The quality of being acquisitive; propensity to acquire property; desire of possession.

2. (Phren.) The faculty to which the phrenologists attribute the desire of acquiring and possessing. Combe.

Ac*quis"i*tor (&?;), n. One who acquires.

Ac*quist" (&?;), n. [Cf. Acquest.] Acquisition; gain. Milton.

Ac*quit" (&?;), p. p. Acquitted; set free; rid of. [Archaic] Shak.

Ac*quit", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Acquitted; p. pr. & vb. n. Acquitting.] [OE. aquiten, OF. aquiter, F. acquitter; &?; (L. ad) + OF. quiter, F. quitter, to quit. See Quit, and cf. Acquiet.] 1. To discharge, as a claim or debt; to clear off; to pay off; to requite.

A responsibility that can never be absolutely acquitted. I. Taylor.