Meaning

noun an advantageous purchase

verb obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction

verb make illegal payments to in exchange for favors or influence

originFrom Middle English byen, from Old English bycġan (“to buy, pay for, acquire, redeem, ransom, procure, get done, sell”), from Proto-West Germanic *buggjan, from Proto-Germanic *bugjaną (“to buy”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰūgʰ- (“to bend”), or from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewgʰ- (“to take away, deliver”). Cognate with Scots buy (“to buy, purchase”), obsolete Dutch…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0