1470 Indenture in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 422 The seid reuerend fader and John Paston, knyght, shal sue for the obteynyng thereof by laufull and resonable menes.

1495 Act 11 Hen. VII c. 53 Preamble Your moost victorius opteynyng agayns Richard.

1539 J. Foster in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. II. 112 For the optaynyng of hys gracyous pardon.

1582 R. Mulcaster 1st Pt. Elementarie viii. 38 To go anie further..towards the obtaining of sound, and substanciall knowledge.

1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. vi. xxiii. 229/2 Hoping by such his plausibilitie and indulgence, to purchase to himselfe their best concurrence for the obtaining of the Empire.

1665 J. Crowne Pandion & Amphigenia ii. 133 Will you now expose your glorious name to the blasts of vulgar opprobry for the obtaining of a little bestial pleasure?

1747 S. Richardson Clarissa I. xvii. 118 The difference between the obtaining of a fame for generosity, and incurring the censure of being a miser, will not, prudently manag'd, cost fifty pounds a year.

1815 C. Lloyd Mary Stuart v. iii. 306 Yes, I dared propose to thee a gentler means, For the obtaining of thy end, than any That thou contrived'st.

1875 W. D. Whitney Life & Growth Lang. ii. 23 The advantage won by the mind in the obtaining of a language.

1946 H. H. Goldstine & J. Von Neumann in J. Von Neumann Coll. Wks. (1963) V. 17 The accumulation and amplification of the round-off errors threatens to prevent the obtaining of results of the desired precision.

1988 B. Cooper Alexander Kennedy Isbister viii. 214 The duplicity of the Company could be found in contrasting its high-sounding regulations for the obtaining of skins with its actual practice.

1682 Heraclitus Ridens 18 July 2/1 The word Confirmation..in the Grammatical and most obtaining sense signifies a strengthening or corroborating.

1710 D. Manley Mem. Europe I. ii. 232 But as he took it, that was not the Case in question, Idol-Worship having not yet been the obtaining Religion.

1715 J. Kersey Dict. Anglo-Britannicum (ed. 2) Adepts or Adeptists, the obtaining sons of art, who are said to have found out the grand elixir, commonly called the philosopher's stone.

1803 M. Charlton Wife & Mistress (ed. 2) I. 191 A charming creature, who sings like an angel, and will be very obtaining..when she gets amongst them!

1803 M. Charlton Wife & Mistress (ed. 2) IV. 121 The result of the experiment will very shortly..prove it,..I believe it is on the eve of becoming very obtaining.