The Good Oil Word of the Day

The word for today is…

procure (verb):

1 transitive : to get possession of (something) : to obtain (something) by particular care and effort

2 transitive : to bring about or achieve (something) by care and effort

3 transitive + intransitive : to obtain (someone) to be employed for sex (as for an individual or in a house of prostitution)

Source : Merriam -Webster

Etymology : Procure, like many other English words, has a split personality. On the one hand, it may carry a perfectly benign meaning, such as "to obtain" (“she procured supplies”) or "to bring about" (“the settlement was successfully procured”). On the other hand, it has long been used in the specific sense of obtaining someone for, or bringing about, sexually promiscuous purposes. In this regard it is similar to the word pander, which entered the English language with the innocent meaning “a go-between in love intrigues” (the word comes from the name Pandare, a character in Chaucer’s poem Troilus and Criseyde who facilitates the affair between the titular characters), and soon after took on the meaning “pimp.”

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