procure

English

Etymology

From Middle English procuren, from Old French procurer, from Late Latin prōcūrāre, present active infinitive of Latin prōcūrō (“I manage, administer”), from prō (“on behalf of”) + cūrō (“I care for”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈkjʊə/, /pɹəˈkjɔː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈkjʊɹ/, /pɹəˈkjɝ/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʊə(ɹ), -ɔː(ɹ)

Verb

procure (third-person singular simple present procures, present participle procuring, simple past and past participle procured)

1. (transitive) To acquire or obtain.

   Synonyms: get, gain, acquire, attain, obtain

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], , →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: , London: Basil Montagu Pickering , 1873, →OCLC:

     if we procure not to ourselves more woe

   • 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm , London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:

     Later there would also be need for seeds and artificial manures, besides various tools and, finally, the machinery for the windmill. How these were to be procured, no one was able to imagine.

2. (transitive) To obtain a person as a prostitute for somebody else.

   Synonyms: buy, purchase

3. (transitive, criminal law) To induce or persuade someone to do something.
4. (obsolete) To contrive; to bring about; to effect; to cause.
   • 1551, Thomas More, translated by Ralph Robinson, Utopia:

     By all means possible they procure to have gold and silver among them in reproach.

   • c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Proceed, Solinus, to procure my fall.

5. (obsolete) To solicit; to entreat.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 1:

     The famous Briton prince and faery knight, […] / Of the fair Alma greatly were procured / To make there lenger soiourne and abode.

6. (obsolete) To cause to come; to bring; to attract.
   • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     What unaccustomed cause procures her hither?

Related terms

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “procure”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• crouper

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁɔ.kyʁ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophones: procurent, procures

Verb

procure

1. inflection of procurer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /proˈku.re/
• Rhymes: -ure
• Hyphenation: pro‧cù‧re

Noun

procure f

1. plural of procura

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: pro‧cu‧re

Verb

procure

1. inflection of procurar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɾoˈkuɾe/
• Rhymes: -uɾe
• Syllabification: pro‧cu‧re

Verb

procure

1. inflection of procurar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative