attack English · revision 3415

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1600 (Philemon Holland's Livy)|origins=gem-pro *stakô}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əˈtæk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|attaquer]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) from [[it|attaccare|t=to attach, join]], as in attaccare battaglia “join battle”,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966) an alteration, influenced by [[m|it|a|t=to]], of an assumed Old Italian estaccare “to attach”, from stacca “stake”, of Germanic origin and akin to Old English [[m|ang|staca|t=stake]].^(MWU 2024)^(MW Collegiate) It is thus a doublet of [[attach]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) which was used from the 15th to the 17th century in the sense now kept by ''attack''.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The noun is from the verb, perhaps influenced by [[m|fr|attaque]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To fall upon with force or arms, to assail: 1600, in Philemon Holland's translation of Livy,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) or about 1600.^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster dates the verb to 1562.^(MWU 2024)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Hostile words followed military force: “to set upon with words or writing, to try to discredit” is from 1643^(OED 1989) or the 1640s.^(Etymonline) The general sense “to begin action on” is from the 1670s, first of diseases:^(Etymonline) a disease attacks from 1677,^(OED 1989) and a task is attacked, taken in hand vigorously, from 1812.^(OED 1989) The noun, an armed assault, is from 1667, in Milton's ''Paradise Lost'',^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) and a hostile verbal assault from 1751.^(OED 1989) A fit of illness is an attack from 1811,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and Middle English had attach in the sense “a seizure (of fever)” in the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) In sport, the attacking side or play is from 1822,^(OED 1989) and in music the manner of beginning a note or passage is from 1871.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1562 – first known use of the verb in Merriam-Webster.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1600 – to assail with arms.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1643 – to assail with words.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1667 – the noun, in ''Paradise Lost''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1677 – of disease.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1751 – a verbal attack.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1811 – a fit of illness.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1822 – the attacking side in a game.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1871 – music, the beginning of a note.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To set upon with violent force; to [[assault]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To [[criticize]] strongly or with hostility.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # To start work on with energy and purpose.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # Of a disease or a substance, to begin to affect or damage.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An act of attacking; an assault.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Strong hostile criticism.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # An attacking move in a game, or the players who make it.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A sudden episode of an illness: ''a heart attack''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(music)'' The way a note or passage is begun.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[attacker]]

+ * [[attackable]]

+ * [[attackman]]

+ * [[unattackable]]

+ * [[unattacked]]

+ * [[reattack]]

+ * [[angle of attack]]

+ * [[attack dog]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[attach]]

+ * [[stake]]

+ * [[stockade]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary compares ''attack'' with ''bombard'', ''assail'', ''storm'', ''assault'' and ''beset''.^(AHD) In Herefordshire dialect ''attack'' could mean simply “to undertake”, as in ''I mean to attack the journey''.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}