Link Centre Dictionary

obtain

ob·tain

UK/əbˈteɪn/ US/ʌˈbteɪn/ fairly common

verb

1.

come into possession of

  • “How did you obtain the visa?”
2.

receive a specified treatment (abstract)

  • “These aspects of civilization do not find expression or receive an interpretation”
  • “His movie received a good review”
  • “I got nothing but trouble for my good intentions”
Synonyms
3.

be valid, applicable, or true

  • “This theory still holds”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English obteinen, from Anglo-Norman obtenir, optiner et al., and Middle French obtenir, from Latin obtinēre (“to gain, achieve, succeed, possess”), from ob- + tenēre (“to hold”).

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.