different between procure vs unprocurable

English

Etymology

From Old French procurer, from Late Latin pr?c?r?re, present active infinitive of Latin pr?c?r? (“I manage, administer”), from pr? (“on behalf of”) + c?r? (“I care for”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p???kj??/, /p???kj??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /p???kj??/, /p???kj?/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Verb

procure (third-person singular simple present procures, present participle procuring, simple past and past participle procured)

1. (transitive) To acquire or obtain.
   • Later there would also be need for seeds and artificial manures, besides various tools and, finally, the machinery for the windmill. How these were to be procured, no one was able to imagine.

2. (transitive) To obtain a person as a prostitute for somebody else.
3. (transitive, criminal law) To induce or persuade someone to do something.
4. (obsolete) To contrive; to bring about; to effect; to cause.
   • 1551, Ralph Robinson (translator), Thomas More, Utopia

     By all means possible they procure to have gold and silver among them in reproach.

5. (obsolete) To solicit; to entreat.
6. (obsolete) To cause to come; to bring; to attract.

Synonyms

• (acquire): obtain
• (obtain a prostitute): buy, purchase

Related terms

• procurement
• procurer
• procuress
• proxy

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “procure”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• crouper

French

Verb

procure

1. first-person singular present indicative of procurer
2. third-person singular present indicative of procurer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of procurer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of procurer
5. second-person singular imperative of procurer

Italian

Noun

procure f

1. plural of procura

Portuguese

Verb

procure

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of procurar
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of procurar
3. first-person singular imperative of procurar
4. third-person singular imperative of procurar

Spanish

Verb

procure

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of procurar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of procurar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of procurar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of procurar.

English

Etymology

From un- +? procurable.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?np???kj????b(?)l/

Adjective

unprocurable (comparative more unprocurable, superlative most unprocurable)

1. Unable to be procured.
   • 1884, Richard Francis Burton, The Book of the Sword:

     It is clear, for instance, in Central Africa, where copper and tin were unprocurable, that man must first have used iron.

   • 1917, The Guardian, 1 Jun 1917:

     We have been told in many plaintive articles and letters in the London press that servants nowadays are almost unprocurable, and even the best people are having to shut up part of their houses and live in one floor, and so on.

   • 1949, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four:

     But it needed desperate courage to kill yourself in a world where firearms, or any quick or certain poison, were completely unprocurable.

Synonyms

• See unobtainable

Antonyms

• procurable; see also obtainable

Translations