attach English · revision 39861

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=a1325|origins=gem-pro *stakô}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /əˈtæt͡ʃ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|attachen]],^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|xno|attacher|t=to fasten; to seize by law]],^(OED 2026)^(AND) a form of [[m|fro|atachier]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Dictionary.com 2016) with influence from [[m|la-med|attachiare|t=to bind a person to appear in court; to seize goods]], which was common in British Latin sources from the 12th century.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995) The Old French verb was altered, by a change of prefix to ''a-'' (from [[m|la|ad|t=to]]), from [[m|fro|estachier|t=to fasten, fix; to stake up]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) itself from [[m|fro|estache|t=a post, stake]], a word of Germanic origin,^(AHD 2024)^(Barnhart 1995) perhaps [[frk|*stakō|t=a post, stake]], from [[gem-pro|*stakô]], the source of [[stake]].^(Etymonline)^(Ayto 2005)^(ODE 2010) Klein and Skeat instead connected it with the Germanic word behind [[tack]], a small nail.^(Klein 1966)^(Skeat 1911) [[attack]] is the same word in its Italian form, [[m|it|attaccare]].^(Klein 1966)^(Weekley 1921)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In law, to seize a person or goods by legal authority: the OED's first quotation is from the statutes, a1325;^(OED 2026) Etymonline dates the English verb to the mid-14th century and the Anglo-Latin one to the mid-13th,^(Etymonline) and Barnhart cites Robert Mannyng's ''Chronicle'' (before 1338).^(Barnhart 1988) Anglo-Norman already had both the sense of fastening and that of arresting from 1121–35.^(AND)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Ayto points out that when English first took the word it meant "seize" or "arrest", a metaphorical sense that seems to have arisen in Anglo-Norman,^(Ayto 2005) although Etymonline thinks "fasten" was the original sense etymologically.^(Etymonline) The general sense of fastening one thing to another entered English in the 15th century,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) the OED's first example again being Mannyng's ''Chronicle''.^(OED 2026) The legal sense of arresting a person or seizing property is still the first sense in Merriam-Webster, which notes that it is now applied chiefly to taking a person by civil process.^(MWU 2024) In the 16th and 17th centuries the verb could also mean to accuse (1480–1655) and, of illness or passion, to seize or take hold of someone (1541–1784): Shakespeare's Gonzalo in ''The Tempest'' is "attach'd with weariness".^(OED 2026)^(Wright 1898) In Hertfordshire this sense survived around 1900 as "to be subject to", as in being "attached to rheumatics".^(Wright 1898) Johnson (1755) gave "to arrest" first, then senses of seizing, winning over and fastening.^(Johnson 1755) The intransitive legal sense, to take effect or become relevant (often ''attach upon''), dates from Bacon, a1626.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a1325 – to seize by legal authority.^(OED 2026)

+ * before 1338 – to fasten or join one thing to another (Mannyng).^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1480–1655 – to accuse of an offence.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1541–1784 – of illness or passion, to seize a person.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1626 – intransitive, to take legal effect.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[fasten]], join or [[connect]] one thing to another: ''She attached a luggage tag to the handle.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # To join or associate oneself with a group or undertaking; to assign a person to a unit or organization, often temporarily.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # To ascribe or [[attribute]] importance, value or blame to something.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # To be connected with or belong to something, followed by ''to'': ''No blame attaches to the driver.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # To send a file together with an email or a document with a letter.^(Collins 2023)

+ # To bind by [[affection]] or loyalty; usually in the passive, ''attached to''.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+ # (law) To seize property or arrest a person by legal authority, as by a [[writ]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[attachable]]

+ * [[attacher]]

+ * [[attachment]]

+ * [[reattach]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[attack]]

+ * [[detach]]

+ * [[stake]]

+ * [[attaché]]

+ * [[tack]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}