Talk:purchase
expression: to find purchase edit
to find purchase: the conditions are ideal to develop my plan(s)
Broader legal sense? edit
Chambers 1908 has this transitive verb: "(law) to get in any way other than by inheritance". Equinox ◑ 00:40, 2 September 2019 (UTC)
Etymology edit
While reading, in the French of the time of the Crusades (11th century IIRC), chronicles by Robert de Clari, Villehardouin, and IIRC also Joinville (13th century, but I'm less sure), I was surprised to notice that they used the verb "pourchacier" (which has given Modern French "pourchasser", "to chase away relentlessly") in the sense of "to acquire" (usually by buying, sometimes by barter), a meaning which English "to purchase" has largely kept while French "pourchasser" has lost it. The etymology mentioned on the content page (OF "to chase, to pursue") is IMHO unduly limited, the sense of "to buy, to acquire", which is the sense usually meant in those French texts, should, I think, be mentioned. — Tonymec (talk) 05:40, 2 September 2019 (UTC)