attachment English · revision 15356

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1447–48}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əˈtæt͡ʃmənt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|attachement]], [[bor|xno|attachement]], from [[m|fro|atachier|t=to fasten, fix]] (see [[attach]]) and [[m|fro|-ment]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The New Oxford gives arrest for contempt of court.^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The writ commanding arrest is from 1468,^(OED 1989) and the legal seizure of property, and later of wages, from the 1590s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Affection or devotion is recorded from 1704.^(Etymonline) Something attached to something else is from 1797,^(Etymonline) a use that has become very common since electronic mail, for a file sent with a message.^(Etymonline) The action of fastening on is from 1859.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1447–8 – arrest on a warrant.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1592 – seizure of property.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1704 – affection, devotion.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1797 – something attached.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Affection, regard or loyalty: ''an attachment to a cause''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An extra part that can be fitted to something, as to a tool.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[computer]] file sent with an [[email]].^(Etymonline)

+ # Something that fastens one thing to another; the act of attaching.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(law)'' The legal seizure of a person or property.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[preattachment]]

+ * [[nonattachment]]

+ * [[overattachment]]

+ * [[reattachment]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[attach]]

+ * [[detach]]

+ * [[attaché]]

+ * [[stake]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}