procural
noun
Procural — an uncommon variant naming the formal act of obtaining supplies
Definition
The act of getting possession of something; "he was responsible for the procurement of materials and supplies"
In depth
Procural, like procurement and procurance, names the act of getting possession of something, the rarest of the three closely related noun forms, almost never encountered in contemporary writing. It functions identically in meaning to the now-standard 'procurement,' surviving mainly as a historical or dialectal curiosity.
Origin
The word shares its root entirely with 'procurement' and 'procurance,' all descending from Latin procurare. Its near-total disappearance from modern usage illustrates how, among multiple competing variant forms derived from the same root, English usage typically narrows decisively to just one or two surviving options over time.
Usage examples
"The antiquated term procural appeared occasionally in nineteenth-century administrative correspondence."
"Linguists studying the historical development of English vocabulary sometimes cite procural as an example of a once-viable but ultimately unsuccessful word form."
"Modern readers encountering procural in older texts would likely recognize it as an unusual variant of the now-familiar procurement."
How to use it
Procural is extremely rare and essentially obsolete in contemporary English; writers should use 'procurement' in virtually all practical contexts, reserving 'procural' only for deliberately archaic or historically accurate writing.
Related concepts
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