Meaning

5 senses
  1. (transitive)To get hold of; to gain possession of, to procure; to acquire, in any way.

    obtain permission

    obtain information

    erlangen, erhalten

    добыва́тьdobyvátʹ, добы́тьdobýtʹ, достава́тьdostavátʹ

    отри́муватиotrýmuvaty, отри́матиotrýmaty, здобува́тиzdobuváty

  2. (especially, intransitive)To exist or be the case; to hold true, be in force.

    bestehen

  3. (intransitive, obsolete)To secure (that) a specific objective or state of affairs be reached.

  4. (intransitive, obsolete)To prevail, be victorious; to succeed.

  5. (obsolete, transitive)To hold; to keep, possess or occupy.

More definitions
  • come into possession of
  • be valid, applicable, or true
  • receive a specified treatment (abstract)

Examples

151 sentences
  1. These items are rather hard to obtain.

    ruТакие вещи сложно достать.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  2. Do you know how Tom obtained the information?

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  3. Do you know how Tom obtained this information?

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  4. How did you obtain this painting?

    ruКак к вам попала эта картина?

    deWie sind Sie an dieses Gemälde gekommen?

    CC BY · Tatoeba · Dejo · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  5. It was easy to obtain.

    deEs war leicht zu beschaffen.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
to get hold of; to gain possession of, to procure; to acquire, in any way:
Русский
By meaning 1
to get hold of; to gain possession of, to procure; to acquire, in any way:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
to get hold of; to gain possession of, to procure; to acquire, in any way:
to exist or be the case; to hold true, be in force:

Origin

From Middle English obteinen, from Anglo-Norman obtenir, optiner et al., and Middle French

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”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

obtains, obtaining, obtained, obtained
Base formobtain · to obtain
3rd person singularobtains
Present participleobtaining
Past simpleobtained
Past participleobtained

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyobtain
he, she, itobtains

Past simpleLesson

all personsobtained

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave obtained
he, she, ithas obtained

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill obtain

Synonyms

11 synonyms
Close in meaning

Word family

10 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
obtain — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto