attain
/əˈteɪn/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.60 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To gain (a desired result or other objective) through effort; to accomplish, to achieve.
Transitive verb
verb
To gain possession of (something tangible or intangible) through effort; to acquire, to obtain.
Archaic; Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Canaan he novv attains, I ſee his Tents / Pitcht about Sechem, and the neighbouring Plaine / Of Moreh; […]"
- "Now had they almost attained / The palace portal."
- "We have already reached a very high latitude; but it is the height of summer, and although not so warm as in England, the southern gales, which blow us speedily towards those shores which I so ardently desire to attain, breathe a degree of renovating warmth which I had not expected."
- "Night hangs vpon mine eyes, my Bones vvould reſt, / That have but labour'd, to attaine this houre."
- "It has also been aſſerted, by ſome naturaliſts, that men do not attain their full grovvth and ſtrength till thirty; but that vvomen arrive at maturity by tvventy."
- "Now, it is no very easy matter for anybody—except those who are almost hourly used to it, like whalemen—to clamber up a ship's side from a boat on the open sea; […] So, deprived of one leg, and the strange ship of course being altogether unsupplied with the kindly invention, Ahab now found himself abjectly reduced to a clumsy landsman again; hopelessly eyeing the uncertain changeful height he could hardly hope to attain."
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle English atteinen, atteynen (“to achieve, attain; to be adequate or sufficient; to affect; to come or get to (a place), reach; to corrupt, taint; to overcome, overpower; to overtake; to succeed; to tamper with; (law) to bring to justice, punish”), from ataign-, a stem of Anglo-Norman ataindre, and Old French ataindre, attaindre (“to reach”) (modern French atteindre), from Vulgar Latin *attangere, from Latin attingere, the present active infinitive of attingō (“to come into contact with, touch; to affect; to arrive at, reach; etc.”), from ad- (prefix indicating a nearing or reaching) (appearing as at- due to assimilation with the following t, inducing gemination) + tangō (“to grasp, touch; to arrive at, reach; to attain; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to grasp; to touch”)). Doublet of attainder and attinge. The noun is derived from the verb.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /əˈteɪn/
- British English: /əˈteɪn/
Usage
Inflected Forms
attains (present, singular)
attaining (participle, present)
attained (participle, past)
attained (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
attained (first person, past)
attainest (archaic, present)
attained (past, second person)
attainedst (archaic, past)
attaineth (archaic, present)
attained (past, singular)