Purchase

The term "purchase" is a verb meaning to buy, or a noun meaning an item obtained through a sale. However, the word has been used in many major historical terms, including:

• the Louisiana Purchase (of 1803), which greatly increased the size of the U.S.;
• the Purchase System in the British Army;
• the Ashbourne Irish Land Purchase Act, or similar laws;
• a Purchase and Sale Agreement, as a contract between a buyer and seller of land (real estate).

The word purchase is often used in contracts with "acquisition", as in the term "Acquisitions and Mergers" (A&M) in legal agreements made between large companies. Those contracts typically state than a company was purchased by another company.

In common usage, the shorter word "buy" is typically used when shopping, rather than the word "purchase". In legal terms (legal words), the opposite of a purchase is called a "sale".