Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AC-QUI-ES'CING, ppr.

Quietly submitting; resting content.

AC-QUIR-A-BILTI-TY, n.

State of being acquirable. Paley.

AC-QUIR'-A-BLE, a.

That may be acquired.

AC-QUIRE', v.t. [L. acquiro, ad and quæro, to seek, that is to follow, to press, to urge; acquiro signifies to pursue to the end or object; Fr. acquerir; Sp. adquirir; Ar. {foreign} kara; Heb. {foreign} to seek, to make toward, to follow. The L. quæsivi, unless contracted, is probably from a different root. See class Gr. and Gs.]

To gain, by any means, something which is in a degree permanent, or which becomes vested or inherent in the possessor; as, to acquire a title, estate, learning, habits, skill, dominion, &c. Plants acquire a green color from the solar rays. A mere temporary possession is not expressed by acquire, but by gain, obtain, procure; as, to obtain [not acquire] a book on loan. 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.

AC-QUIR'ED, pp.

Gained, obtained, or received from art, labor, or other means, in distinction from those things which are bestowed by nature. Thus we say, abilities, natural and acquired. It implies title, or some permanence of possession.

AC'QUIRE'-MENT, n.

The act of acquiring, or that which is acquired; attainment. It is used in opposition to natural gifts; as, eloquence, and skill in music and painting, are acquirements; genius, the gift 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-ING, n.

Acquirement.

AC-QUIR-ING, ppr.

Gaining by labor or other means, something that has a degree of permanence in the possessor.

AC-QUI'RY, n.

Acquirement. [Not used.] Barrow.

AC'QUIS-ITE, a.

s as z. Gained. [Not used.] Burton.

AC-QUI-SI'TION, n. [L. acquisitio, from acquisitus, acquæsivi, which are given as the part. and pret. of acquiro; but quæsivi is probably from a different root; W. ceisiaw; Eth. {foreign} chasas, chas; Ar. {foreign} kassa, to seek. Class Gs.]

1. The act of acquiring; as, a man takes pleasure in the acquisition of property, as well as in the possession.
2. The thing acquired, or gained; as, learning is an acquisition. It is used for intellectual attainments, as well as for external things, property or dominion; and in a good sense, denoting something estimable.

AC-QUIS'I-TIVE, a.

That is acquired; acquired; [but improper.] Walton.

AC-QUIS'I-TIVE-LY, adv.

Noting acquirement, with to or for following. Lilly's Grammar.

AC-QUISIT-IVE-NESS, n.

Desire of possession.

AC-QUIST', n.

See Acquest. [Not used.] Milton.

AC-QUIT', v.t. [Fr. acquitter; W. gadu, gadaw; L. cedo; Arm. kitat, or quytaat, to leave, or forsake; Fr. quitter, to forsake; Sp. quitar; Port. quitar; It. quitare, to remit, forgive, remove; D. kwyten; Ger. quittiren.]

To set free; to release or discharge from an obligation, accusation, guilt, censure, suspicion, or whatever lies upon a person as a charge or duty; as, the jury acquitted the prisoner; we acquit a man of evil intentions. It is followed by of before the object; to acquit from is obsolete. In a reciprocal sense, as, the soldier acquitted himself well in battle, the word has a like sense, implying the discharge of a duty or obligation. Hence its use in expressing excellence in performance; as, the orator acquitted himself well, that is, in a manner that his situation and public expectation demanded.

AC-QUIT'MENT, n.

The act of acquitting, or state of being acquitted. South. [This word is superseded by Acquittal.]

AC-QUIT'TAL, n.

A judicial setting free, or deliverance from the charge of an offense; as by verdict of a jury, or sentence of a court; as, the acquittal of a principal operates as an acquittal of the accessories.

AC-QUIT'TANCE, n.

1. A discharge or release from a debt.
2. The writing, which is evidence of a discharge; a receipt in full, which bars a further demand.

AC-QUIT'TED, pp.

Set free, or judicially discharged from an accusation; released from a debt, duty, obligation, charge, or suspicion of guilt.

AC-QUIT'TING, ppr.

Setting free from accusation; releasing from a charge, obligation, or suspicion of guilt.

A-CRASE', or A-CRAZE', v.t.

1. To make crazy; to infatuate. See Crazy.
2. To impair; to destroy. [Not in use.]

AC'RA-SY, n. [Gr. {foreign}, from {foreign} and {foreign}, constitution or temperament.]

In medical authors, an excess or predominancy of one quality above another, in mixture, or in the human constitution. Bailey.

A-CRE, n. [a'ker; Sax. acer, acera, or æcer; Ger. acker; D. akker; Sw. acker; Dan. ager; W. eg; Ir. acra; Ice. akr; Pers. akkar; Gr. {foreign}; Lat. ager. In these languages, the word retains its primitive sense, an open, plowed, or sowed field. In English it retained its original signification, that of any open field, until it was limited to a definite quantity by statutes 31 Ed. III. 5 Ed. I. 24 H. VIII. Cowel.]

1. A quantity of land, containing 160 square rods or perches, or 4840 square yards. This is the English statute acre. The acre of Scotland contains 6l50 2-5 square yards. The French arpent is nearly equal to the Scottish acre, about a fifth larger than the English. The Roman juger was 3200 square yards.
2. In the Mogul's dominions, acre in the same as lack, or 100,000 rupees, equal to £12,500 sterling, or 55,500 dollars. Acre-fight, a sort of duel in the open field, formerly fought by English and Scotch combatants on their frontiers. Acre-tax, a tax on land in England, at a certain sum for each acre, called also Acre-shot.