attainder

Etymology

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman attaindre (“to convict”), also atteinder,^[2][3][4] that is, Old French ataindre (“to reach, strike, accuse, convict”), also ateindre, an infinitive used as a noun;^[5][6][7][8] it is the same verb as attain.^[5][9][10] Law French often turned infinitives into nouns, as in waiver, demurrer and remainder.^[6][7][11] The French verb is from Latin attingō (“to touch upon, strike, attack”).^[5] Its meaning was later influenced by association with Old French taindre (“to dye, stain”), from tingō (“to dye”), the source of taint and tinge;^[5][10] Barnhart calls this a mistaken association.^[10] The Anglo-Norman verb, recorded from the early 12th century, meant to reach, touch, strike and catch.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The loss of property and civil rights that followed a sentence of death or outlawry: 1444, in the Rolls of Parliament, according to Barnhart.^[10] The OED's first quotation is from Warkworth's Chronicle of 1473.^[5][13]

Semantic evolution

Barnhart notes that attainder first referred to the detection of a crime, and only later to its legal consequences, the forfeiture of estate and the loss of rights;^[10] the OED likewise says that it was used at first in the sense of the verb attain "to convict", later for the effects of a judgement of death or outlawry for treason or felony.^[5] From 1577, in Holinshed, it also named the instrument itself, an Act or bill of attainder.^[5][13] Shakespeare used it in 1597 for a dishonouring accusation and for a stain of dishonour,^[5] senses Johnson (1755) still listed as "taint",^[14] and which were obsolete by the mid-18th century.^[5][13] The penalty has since been abolished: Collins marks the legal sense as former, and the United States Constitution, quoted by Merriam-Webster Unabridged, limits its effects.^[4][15]

Timeline

• 1444 – the legal consequences of a sentence of death or outlawry.^[10] The OED dates this sense to 1473.^[5]
• 1577 – an Act of Attainder.^[5][13]
• 1597 – a dishonouring accusation; also a stain of dishonour (obsolete by 1752).^[5][13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law, historical) The loss of all civil rights and the forfeiture of property by a person sentenced to death or declared an outlaw for treason or felony.^[4][15][16]
2. (historical) A legislative act that imposed this penalty without trial; a bill of attainder.^[5][16]
3. (obsolete, 1597–1752) A stain of dishonour, or a dishonouring accusation.^[5][15][4]

Related words

• attaint
• bill of attainder
• attain
• taint
• tact
• contact

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
13. ^ a b c d e Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
16. ^ a b Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West