Alternative forms

• obtein, obteyn (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#OBTAINCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#OBTAIN obteinen, from Anglo-NormanCategory:English terms derived from Anglo-Norman#OBTAIN obtenir, optiner et al., and Middle FrenchCategory:English terms derived from Middle French#OBTAIN obtenir, from LatinCategory:English terms derived from Latin#OBTAIN obtinēre (“to gain, achieve, succeed, possess”), from ob- + tenēre (“to hold”)Category:Latin links with redundant target parameters#OBTAIN.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əbˈteɪn/Category:English 2-syllable words#OBTAINCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#OBTAIN

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#OBTAIN
• Rhymes: -eɪnCategory:Rhymes:English/eɪn#OBTAINCategory:Rhymes:English/eɪn/2 syllables#OBTAIN
• Homophone: abthaneCategory:English terms with homophones#OBTAIN

Verb

obtain (third-person singular simple present obtains, present participle obtaining, simple past and past participle obtained)Category:English lemmas#OBTAINCategory:English verbs#OBTAINCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#OBTAINCategory:Pages with entries#OBTAINCategory:Pages with 1 entry#OBTAIN

1. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#OBTAIN) To get hold of; to gain possession of, to procure; to acquire, in any way. [from 15th c.]

   obtain permissionCategory:English terms with collocations#OBTAIN

   obtain informationCategory:English terms with collocations#OBTAIN

   difficult to obtainCategory:English terms with collocations#OBTAIN

   Applicants must obtain a permit before construction.Category:English terms with usage examples#OBTAIN

   We obtained accurate data from the survey.Category:English terms with usage examples#OBTAIN

   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Luke:

     And a certayne ruler axed him: sayinge: Goode Master: what ought I to do, to obtaine eternall lyfe?

     Category:English terms with quotations#OBTAIN

   • 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter III, in Mansfield Park: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 64:

     […] Julia was quite as eager for novelty and pleasure as Maria, though she might not have struggled through so much to obtain them, and could better bear a subordinate situation.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OBTAIN

   • 2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly‎, volume 189, number 2, page 48:

     But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention. Partly, this is a result of how online advertising has traditionally worked: advertisers pay for clicks, and a click is a click, however it's obtained.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OBTAIN

2. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#OBTAIN, obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#OBTAIN) To secure (that) a specific objective or state of affairs be reached. [15th–19th c.]
   • 1722, Daniel Defoe, Colonel Jack:

     he was condemned to die for the felony, and being so well known for an old offender, had certainly died, but the merchant, upon his earnest application, had obtained that he should be transported, on condition that he restored all the rest of his bills, which he had done accordingly.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OBTAIN

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3. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#OBTAIN, obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#OBTAIN) To prevail, be victorious; to succeed. [15th–19th c.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     “O daughter deare!” (said she) “despeire no whit; / For never sore but might a salve obtain [...].”

     Category:English terms with quotations#OBTAIN

   • 1701, Jonathan Swift, Contests and Dissentions in Athens and Rome:

     This, though it failed at present, yet afterward obtained, and was a mighty step to the ruin of the commonwealth.

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4. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#OBTAIN, obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#OBTAIN) To hold; to keep, possess or occupy. [15th–18th c.]
   • 1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 6, lines 76–79:

     His mother then is mortal, but his Sire / He who obtains the monarchy of Heav'n, / And what will he not do to advance his Son?

     Category:English terms with quotations#OBTAIN

5. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#OBTAIN, especially philosophyCategory:en:Philosophy#OBTAIN) To exist or be the case; to hold true, be in force. [from 17th c.]
   • 1908 February 19, Jack London, chapter 17, in The Iron Heel, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC:

     Even though the Pervaise confession had never come to light, no reasonable doubt could obtain; for the act in question […] was on a par with countless other acts committed by the oligarchs, and, before them, by the capitalists.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OBTAIN

   • 1942 July-August, T. F. Cameron, “How the Staff of a Railway is Recruited”, in Railway Magazine, page 207:

     In connection with the various courses of practical instruction, the companies maintain signalling schools fitted with standard railway equipment in which the staff can be given instructions under conditions exactly similar to those which obtain in signal boxes.

     Category:English terms with quotations#OBTAIN

   • 1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 460:

     But the hostage situation no longer obtains, and so Uncle Enzo feels it important to stop Rife now, […]

     Category:English terms with quotations#OBTAIN

Anagrams

• boat-in, batino, Tobian, Bonita