What does reacquire mean?
Reacquire means to obtain or regain something again after it has been lost, surrendered, or no longer possessed. The word is especially common in legal, business, and institutional contexts, as in reacquiring control, possession, access, or rights. It can also describe a person recovering an ability or quality, such as reacquiring fluency in a language or reacquiring confidence after a setback. Unlike acquire, which presents an act of obtaining something without necessarily implying prior ownership, reacquire explicitly marks a return to a previous state. The prefix re- gives the verb its sense of repetition, making reacquire useful when an event has made it necessary to recover something important.
verbTo obtain or regain something again, especially after losing, surrendering, or no longer possessing it.
- To obtain possession of something again after it has been lost, surrendered, or taken away.
- To recover or regain a quality, ability, status, or position.
"The company was able to reacquire the rights to the software after the original agreement expired."
"Students can reacquire the language skills they had lost through lack of practice."
"The government sought to reacquire control of the nationalized company."
Reacquire captures the idea of winning back what was once yours, whether it is property, control, access, or a forgotten skill.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of reacquire
Reacquire is formed in English by the prefix re-, meaning again, combined with acquire. Acquire comes through Old French aquerir from Latin acquirere, a compound of ad- and quaerere, meaning to seek or obtain. The prefix re- has been used in English for many centuries to indicate repetition, and in reacquire it emphasizes obtaining something again after a loss or transfer.
Related word forms
How reacquire is actually used
Reacquire is a formal word and is more common in legal, business, and institutional contexts than in casual speech. It is transitive and is normally followed by a direct object.
Easily confused with reacquire
To reacquire something is to obtain it again after losing it, whereas to require something is to need or demand it.
To acquire something is to obtain it for the first time or in general, while to reacquire it is to obtain it again after it has been lost or surrendered.