purchase
noun
Purchase — the formal acquisition of something through payment
Definition
The acquisition of something for payment; "they closed the purchase with a handshake"
In depth
A purchase is the acquisition of something for payment, the most fundamental transaction of commerce, in which money or its equivalent is exchanged for goods, services, or property. The word names both the act of buying and, commonly, the item bought, central to virtually all economic activity and writing about commerce.
Origin
The word descends from Old French porchacier, to seek out or pursue eagerly, formed from por- (forth) and chacier (to chase). That surprising origin in active pursuit, rather than mere exchange, suggests an older sense in which acquiring something required genuine effort and seeking, a nuance the modern, simpler transactional sense has largely lost.
Usage examples
"They closed the purchase with a handshake, the kind of simple agreement increasingly rare in modern business."
"Her first major purchase as an adult, a small but sturdy car, still held sentimental value decades later."
"The museum's recent purchase filled a long-standing gap in its collection of early modern art."
How to use it
Purchase is universal, essential vocabulary across commerce, legal writing, and everyday speech, useful both as a noun describing the act or item bought and, in its verb form, describing the transaction itself.
Related concepts
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