attachment
This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 16:12. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Pronunciation
- IPA: /əˈtæt͡ʃmənt/[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English attachement, borrowed from Anglo-Norman attachement, from atachier (“to fasten, fix”) (see attach) and -ment.[2][3][4]
Earliest recorded meaning
The arrest of a person on a judicial warrant: about 1400 in Etymonline (the mid-13th century in Anglo-Latin), 1447–8 in the OED.[2][5] The New Oxford gives arrest for contempt of court.[4]
Semantic evolution
The writ commanding arrest is from 1468,[5] and the legal seizure of property, and later of wages, from the 1590s.[2][5] Affection or devotion is recorded from 1704.[2] Something attached to something else is from 1797,[2] a use that has become very common since electronic mail, for a file sent with a message.[2] The action of fastening on is from 1859.[5]
Timeline
- 1447–8 – arrest on a warrant.[5]
- 1592 – seizure of property.[5]
- 1704 – affection, devotion.[2]
- 1797 – something attached.[2]
Modern meaning
Noun
- Affection, regard or loyalty: an attachment to a cause.
- An extra part that can be fitted to something, as to a tool.
- A computer file sent with an email.
- Something that fastens one thing to another; the act of attaching.
- (law) The legal seizure of a person or property.
Word family
- preattachment
- nonattachment
- overattachment
- reattachment
Related words
- attach
- detach
- attaché
- stake
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press