Bought vs Obtained - What's the difference?

bought | obtained |

As verbs the difference between bought and obtained

is that bought is past tense of buy while obtained is past tense of obtain.

As a noun bought

is a bend; flexure; curve; a hollow angle.

bought

English

Etymology 1

See buy

Verb

(head)

(buy).

* {{quote-magazine, title=No hiding place

, date=2013-05-25, volume=407, issue=8837, page=74, magazine=(The Economist) citation , passage=In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result. If the bumf arrived electronically, the take-up rate was 0.1%. And for online adverts the “conversion” into sales was a minuscule 0.01%.}}

Usage notes

It is common to hear native English speakers (particularly in the UK, Australia and New Zealand) using "bought " when meaning "brought" (and vice versa) despite the fact that the two words mean different things Sometimes this mistake makes its way into print[http://thehoopla.com.au/relinquished/.

Derived terms

* overbought

Etymology 2

From (etyl) bought, bowght, .

Alternative forms

* bout, bowt * boughte, bughte

Noun

(en noun)

(obsolete) A bend; flexure; curve; a hollow angle.

(obsolete) A bend or hollow in a human or animal body.

(obsolete) A curve or bend in a river, mountain chain, or other geographical feature.

* 1612 , John Smith, Map of Virginia , in Kupperman 1988, p. 159:

the river it selfe turneth North east and is stil a navigable streame. On the westerne side of this bought is Tauxenent with 40 men.

(obsolete) The part of a sling that contains the stone.

(obsolete) A fold, bend, or coil in a tail, snake's body etc.

* 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , I.i:

Her huge long taile her den all ouerspred, / Yet was in knots and many boughtes vpwound, / Pointed with mortall sting.

References

*
* The Oxford English Dictionary. English irregular past participles English irregular simple past forms

obtained

English

Verb

(head)

(obtain)

Anagrams

obtain

English

Verb

(en verb)

To get hold of; to gain possession of, to procure; to acquire, in any way.

* 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , Luke XVIII:

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

* 1814 , (Jane Austen), (Mansfield Park) :

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.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)

, volume=189, issue=2, page=48, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=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 .}}

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

* 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.

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

* 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , III.2:

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

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

* 1671 , (John Milton), (Paradise Regained) , Book I:

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?

To exist or be the case; to hold true, be in force.

* 1908 , (Jack London), (The Iron Heel) , ,

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.

* 1992 , (Neal Stephenson), (Snow Crash) , Bantam Spectra, p. 460,

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