Definition of "acquired" []

• Of or relating to a disease, condition, or characteristic that is not congenital but develops after birth. (adjective)
• Resulting from exposure to something, such as an antigen or antibiotic. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "One surprising source of work and audience for Bute was in providing short "B-movies" for film houses well before the term acquired its schlocky, perjorative connotations."
• "GUPTA: 1982, the term acquired immune deficiency syndrome or AIDS is first used and within a year, researchers had determined it was the HIV virus that was destroying the patient's immune system and killing them."
• "The concern here is primarily with the meaning the term acquired in the course of the eighteenth century as denoting the creative powers and outstanding original - ity of uncommonly endowed, exalted individuals."