Etymology From Middle English purchasen, from Anglo-Norman purchacer (“seek to obtain”) from pur- (from Latin pro-) + chac(i)er (“to chase, pursue”). Compare Old French porchacier (“to follow, to chase”), which has given French pourchasser (“to chase without relent”).
The acquisition of title to, or property in, anything for a price; buying for money or its equivalent.
They offer a free hamburger with the purchase of a drink.
2
That which is obtained for a price in money or its equivalent.
He was pleased with his latest purchase.
[Said by a shopkeeper] I really don't think you can carry any more purchases. You can come again after you sell something, or you can simply discard an item to lighten your load. Or, you might want to sell the things you don't need here!1995, HAL Laboratory, EarthBound, Nintendo, Super Nintendo Entertainment System:
3
That which is obtained, got or acquired, in any manner, honestly or dishonestly; property; possession; acquisition.
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Obsolete The act or process of seeking and obtaining something (e.g. property, etc.)
I'll […] get meat to save thee, / Or lose my life i’ th’ purchase.c. 1613 (first performance), John Fletcher, “The Tragedie of Bonduca”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act V, scene iii:
5
A price paid for a house or estate, etc. equal to the amount of the rent or income during the stated number of years.
Suppose a freehold house to be worth 20 years’ purchase […]1848, The Sessional Papers printed by order of the House of Lords:
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Also, Figuratively Any mechanical hold or advantage, applied to the raising or removing of heavy bodies, as by a lever, a tackle or capstan.
It is hard to get purchase on a nail without a pry bar or hammer.
The problem is that the model of individual responsibility assumed by most versions of ethics have little purchase on the behavior of Capital or corporations.2009, Mark Fisher, chapter 8, in Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?, Zero Books, →ISBN, pages 66–67:
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The apparatus, tackle or device by which such mechanical advantage is gained and (in nautical terminology) the ratio of such a device, like a pulley, or block and tackle.
He describes the operation thus: "The heavy ram employed to impart the finishing strokes, hoisted up with double purchase and snail's pace to the summit of the Piling Engine, and then falling down like a thunderbolt on the head of the devoted timber, driving it perhaps a single half inch in to the stratum below, is well calculated to put to the test the virtue of patience, while it illustrates the old adage of—slow and sure."1952 July, W. R. Watson, “Sankey Viaduct and Embankment”, in Railway Magazine, page 487:
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Climbing, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports The amount of hold one has from an individual foothold or ledge.
At first, he was climbing down, testing for purchase with his feet. But soon, as the entire section of ground rotated, he was lifted into the air, and up and down flipped around.2015, Hao Jingfang, “Folding Beijing”, in Ken Liu, transl., Uncanny Magazine, number 2:
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LawDated Acquisition of lands or tenements by means other than descent or inheritance, namely, by one's own act or agreement.
The difference […]between the acquisition of an estate by descent and by purchase1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:
Etymology From Middle English purchasen, from Anglo-Norman purchacer (“seek to obtain”) from pur- (from Latin pro-) + chac(i)er (“to chase, pursue”). Compare Old French porchacier (“to follow, to chase”), which has given French pourchasser (“to chase without relent”).
To buy, obtain by payment of a price in money or its equivalent.
to purchase land, to purchase a house
2
To pursue and obtain; to acquire by seeking; to gain, obtain, or acquire.
that loves the thing he cannot purchase1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “May. Ægloga Quinta.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Iohn Wolfe for Iohn Harrison the yonger, […], →OCLC:
They [the English] are all on fire / To purchaſe from the Spaniard. If their Carracks / Come deeply laden, vvee ſhall tugge vvith them / For golden ſpoile.c. 1597–1603 (date written), Thomas Heywood, The Fair Maid of the West. Or, A Girle Worth Gold. The First Part. […], London: […] [Miles Flesher] for Richard Royston, […], published 1631, →OCLC, Act I, page 1:
2 more examples
Your accent is something finer than you could purchase in so removed a dwelling.c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
His faults […] hereditary / Rather than purchased.c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:
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To obtain by any outlay, as of labor, danger, or sacrifice, etc.
to purchase favor with flattery
One poor retiring minute […] / Would purchase thee a thousand thousand friends.1594, William Shakespeare, Lucrece (First Quarto), London: […] Richard Field, for Iohn Harrison, […], →OCLC:
4
To expiate by a fine or forfeit.
Not tears nor prayers shall purchase out abuses.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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
5
To apply to (anything) a device for obtaining a mechanical advantage; to get a purchase upon, or apply a purchase to; to raise or move by mechanical means.
to purchase a cannon
6
To put forth effort to obtain anything; to strive; to exert oneself.
1523–1525, John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, Froissart's Chronicles Duke John of Brabant purchased greatly that the Earl of Flanders should have his daughter in marriage.
7
To constitute the buying power for a purchase, have a trading value.
Many aristocratic refugees' portable treasures purchased their safe passage and comfortable exile during the revolution.