attain
Part of speech: verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: The verb is derived from Middle English atteinen, atteynen (“to achieve, attain; to be adequate or sufficient; to affect; to come or get to (a place), reach; to corrupt, taint; to overcome, overpower; to overtake; to succeed; to tamper with; (law) to bring to justice, punish”), from ataign-, a stem of Anglo-Norman ataindre, and Old French ataindre, attaindre (“to reach”) (modern French atteindre), from Vulgar Latin *attangere, from Latin attingere, the present active infinitive of attingō (“to come into contact with, touch; to affect; to arrive at, reach; etc.”), from ad- (prefix indicating a nearing or reaching) (appearing as at- due to assimilation with the following t, inducing gemination) + tangō (“to grasp, touch; to arrive at, reach; to attain; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to grasp; to touch”)). Doublet of attainder and attinge.
The noun is derived from the verb.
Inflected forms:
form: attains
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: attaining
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: attained
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: attained
pos: verb
tags: past
form: no-table-tags
pos: verb
tags: table-tags
form: glossary
pos: verb
tags: inflection-template
form: attain
pos: verb
tags: infinitive
form: attain
pos: verb
tags: first-person
present
singular
form: attained
pos: verb
tags: first-person
past
singular
form: attain
pos: verb
tags: present
second-person
singular
form: attainest
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
second-person
singular
form: attained
pos: verb
tags: past
second-person
singular
form: attainedst
pos: verb
tags: archaic
past
second-person
singular
form: attains
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: attaineth
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
singular
third-person
form: attained
pos: verb
tags: past
singular
third-person
form: attain
pos: verb
tags: plural
present
form: attained
pos: verb
tags: past
plural
form: attain
pos: verb
tags: present
subjunctive
form: attained
pos: verb
tags: past
subjunctive
form: attain
pos: verb
tags: imperative
present
form: -
pos: verb
tags: imperative
past
form: attaining
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: attained
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
Senses:
gloss: To come to or reach (a place) by motion or progression.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Canaan he novv attains, I ſee his Tents / Pitcht about Sechem, and the neighbouring Plaine / Of Moreh; […]
Now had they almost attained / The palace portal.
We have already reached a very high latitude; but it is the height of summer, and although not so warm as in England, the southern gales, which blow us speedily towards those shores which I so ardently desire to attain, breathe a degree of renovating warmth which I had not expected.
gloss: To arrive at (a certain age or time, condition or state, etc.); to reach.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
transitive
examples: Night hangs vpon mine eyes, my Bones vvould reſt, / That have but labour'd, to attaine this houre.
It has also been aſſerted, by ſome naturaliſts, that men do not attain their full grovvth and ſtrength till thirty; but that vvomen arrive at maturity by tvventy.
Now, it is no very easy matter for anybody—except those who are almost hourly used to it, like whalemen—to clamber up a ship's side from a boat on the open sea; […] So, deprived of one leg, and the strange ship of course being altogether unsupplied with the kindly invention, Ahab now found himself abjectly reduced to a clumsy landsman again; hopelessly eyeing the uncertain changeful height he could hardly hope to attain.
gloss: To gain (a desired result or other objective) through effort; to accomplish, to achieve.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
transitive
examples: To attain such a high level of proficiency requires hours of practice each day.
Roſse [William de Ros, 6th Baron Ros]. Your preſence makes Vs rich, moſt noble Lord. / VVil. [William Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby de Eresby]. And far ſurmounts our labour to attaine it.
[…] Reaſon is not as Senſe, and Memory, borne vvith us; nor gotten by Experience onely, as Prudence is; but attayned by Induſtry; […]
Suppoſe a man; a Miniſter, or a Tradeſman, &c. ſhould have an advantage lie before him, to get the good bleſſings of this life; yet ſo, as that he can by no means come by them, except in appearance, at leaſt, he becomes extraordinarily zealous in ſome points of Religion, that he medled not vvith before, may he not uſe theſe means to attain his end, and yet be a right honeſt man?
O might VVe thro' Thy Grace attain / The Faith Thou never vvilt reprove, […]
While Genius trudges a-foot, and by many a thorny, circuitous route, ascends the hill of fame, thou bowlest along in thy chariot, and attainest the same sunny eminence with scarce an effort.
[T]his man is of a character so infamous that he will stick at no falsehood, or hesitate at no crime, to attain his ends.
Ko-Ko, the cheap tailor, Lord High Executioner of Titipu! Why, that's the highest rank a citizen can attain!
[T]o write books you need not only comfort and solitude – and solitude is never easy to attain in a working-class home – you also need peace of mind.
But an absolutely right time arrival of all trains on the same day is never attained.
Where else could I—without money and family contacts, and at so young an age—hope to attain such an impressive income?
gloss: To gain possession of (something tangible or intangible) through effort; to acquire, to obtain.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
figuratively
transitive
examples: [K]ing Edwarde [IV] returned, and wͭ much leſſe nũber thẽ [number then [than]] he had, at Barnet on theſtre daye felde [the Easter Day field], ſlewe the Erle of warwik [Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick] wͭ many other great eſtates of yͤ partie, ⁊ ſo ſtably attained the crowne againe, that he peaſſybly enioyed it vntil his dieng day: […]
[T]hey reported their aduiſe to the kyng exortyng hym to prouyde for his force and ſtrength of men of warre⸝ to atteyne therby the towne of Berwike […]
Yet notvvithſtanding, as Thoſe that firſt bring Honour into their Family, are commonly more vvorthy, then moſt that ſucceed: So the firſt Preſident (if it be good) is ſeldome attained by Imitation.
Though I cannot prove hovv, or vvhere thou attainedſt thoſe glorious Arms, that Achillean Shield, and that ſtrong Steed, yet I vvill make it good on thy Carrion Corſe, that thou cameſt Felloniouſly by them; […]
gloss: To reach (someone) after being behind them.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: The Earle finding the Caſtle freed, and the Enemie retired, purſued vvith all celeritie into Scotland, hoping to haue ouer-taken the Scottiſh King, and to haue giuen him Battaile. But not attaining him in time, ſate dovvne before the Caſtle of Aton […] vvhich in a ſmall time hee tooke.
gloss: To find out (information, knowledge, etc.); to ascertain, to get at.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
obsolete
transitive
examples: [I]t pleaſeth God to diſcouer certayne things to his ſeruantes after this maner at the fyrſte ſpringing vp of the Goſpell: of whiche thyng we may now atteyne manifeſt knowledge by his worde.
And yet Maſter [William] Camden, ſometimes acknovvledgeth, ſometimes denieth him for an Engliſh Earle. Not that I accuſe him as inconſtant to himſelf, but ſuſpect my ſelf not vvell attaining his meaning therein.
I cannot attain the exact date of the death of John Overall, carrying Superintendency in his Surname, the Biſhop of Norvvich; […]
gloss: Often followed by to.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
intransitive
examples: Then ſayde the children of Joſeph: We ſhal not be able to attayne vnto the mountayne, for there are yron charettes [chariots] amonge all the Cananites, that dwell in the londe of Emek, by whom lyeth Beth Sean and the vyllages therof, and Jeſreal in Emek.
And becauſe the hauen was not commodious to winter in, the more part aduiſed to depart thence alſo, if by any meanes they might attaine to Phenice, and there to winter: which is an hauen of Creete, and lieth toward the Southweſt, and Northweſt.
For, scarce a spear's length from his haunch, / Vindictive toiled the blood-hounds staunch; / Nor nearer might the dogs attain, / Nor farther might the quarry strain.
gloss: Often followed by to.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: You may not, perhaps, live to see your trees attain to the dignity of timber—I, nevertheless, approve of your planting, and the disinterested spirit that prompts you to it.
gloss: Often followed by to.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
examples: Such knowlege is to wonderfull ⁊ excellẽt [excellent] for me, I can not atteyne vnto it.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I can not attaine vnto it.
The glorious Prize I novv purſue, / For full Redemption vvait, / And ſoon I ſhall attain unto / My primitive Eſtate.
In London, for instance, the burgesses gathered in town-mote when the bell swung out from S. Paul's to deliberate freely on their own affairs under the presidency of their aldermen. […] Few boroughs had as yet attained to power such as this, but charter after charter during Henry [I]'s reign raised the townsmen of boroughs from mere traders, wholly at the mercy of their lord, into customary tenants, who had purchased their freedom by a fixed rent, regulated their own trade, and enjoyed exemption from all but their own justice.
gloss: Often followed by to.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
obsolete
examples: Now then, art thou afrayd leaſt God who careth for all things without care, moueth them without touching them, and atteyneth to them without putting himſelf foorth, is not able to wéeld theſe lower things without defyling himſelf by them?
As for their geſture or poſition, the men lay dovvne [on couches in a triclinium] leaning on their left elbovv, their backe being advanced by ſome pillovv or ſoft ſubſtance; the ſecond lay ſo vvith his backe tovvards the firſt, that his head attained about his boſome, and the reſt in the ſame order: […]
gloss: Often followed by to.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
obsolete
examples: [S]onne Arthur, you ſhall giue to Perron your wife this night the Charter of her endowrie, wherein is compriſed the land of the Citie of Saintes and of Pois, attaining to the bounds of Gaſgoine.
gloss: Often followed by to.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
obsolete
examples: I ſtudy tyll my braynes ake to ꝑceyue [perceive] this mater but I can nat attayne to it: […]
He [Thomas de Littleton] compiled this Booke vvhen hee vvas Iudge, after the fourteenth yeare of the raigne of King E[dward] 4. but the certaine time vve cannot yet attaine vnto, but (as vve conceiue) it vvas not long before his death, […]
gloss: Often followed by to.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
obsolete
examples: [H]e ſent ſtreyght his letters ⁊ his meſſengers in euery place⸝ where as he thought to recouer⸝ or attaigne to haue any company of men of warre.
He [John Gregory] attained to be an exquiſite Linguiſt and general Scholar, his modeſty ſetting the greater luſtre on his learning.
gloss: Often followed by to.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
obsolete
examples: Heare thou yͭ haſt kepte in the earth ſo lõge [longe], this I ſaye vnto the, before thou begynneſt to appeare nomore: There ſhal none after yͤ atteyne vnto thy tyme.
The dayes of the yeeres of my pilgrimage are an hundred ⁊ thirtie yeres: few and euill haue the dayes of the yeeres of my life bene, and haue not attained vnto the dayes of the yeeres of the life of my fathers, in the dayes of their pilgrimage.
gloss: Often followed by to.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
intransitive
obsolete
examples: As for the ſoule firſt, we ſhall nede no rehearſal of any harme that by this kinde of tribulacion maye attaine thereto: but if that by ſomme inordinate loue and affectiõ [affection] that the ſoule beare to the body, ſhe conſent to ſlide frõ [from] the faith, and thereby do her harme her ſelfe.
Related words: attainder
attaint
attainture
Derived words: attainability
attainable
attained
attainer
attaining
attainment
reattain
unattaining
Translations: