attach

English

Etymology

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd
Proto-Italic *ad
Proto-Italic *ad-
Latin ad-
Old French a-
Proto-Indo-European *stegʰ-
Proto-Indo-European *-ō
Proto-Indo-European *stogʰō?
Proto-Germanic *stakô
Old French estache
Proto-Italic *-āzi
▲
Latin -ereinflu.
Latin -āre
Old French -ier
Old French estachier
Old French atachierbor.
Middle English attachen
English attach

    From Middle English attachen, from Old French atachier, variant of estachier (“bind”), derived from estache (“stick”), from Frankish *stakkā, *stakō (“stick”), from Proto-Germanic *stakô (“pole, bar, stick, stake”). Doublet of attack. More at stake, stack.

    Displaced native Old English þīedan.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /əˈtæt͡ʃ/
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)
    • Rhymes: -ætʃ
    • Hyphenation: at‧tach

    Verb

    attach (third-person singular simple present attaches, present participle attaching, simple past and past participle attached)

    1. (transitive) To fasten, to join to (literally and figuratively).
      Synonyms: connect, annex, affix, unite; see also Thesaurus:join
      Antonyms: detach, unfasten, disengage, separate; see also Thesaurus:disconnect
      You need to attach the carabiner to your harness.
      An officer is attached to a certain regiment, company, or ship.
    2. (intransitive) To adhere; to be attached.
      Synonyms: cling, stick; see also Thesaurus:adhere
      • 1838, Henry Brougham, Political Philosophy:
        The great interest which attaches to the mere knowledge of these facts cannot be doubted.
    3. To include an attachment with a communication (especially an email or other electronic communication).
      I've attached the contract to this email.
    4. To come into legal operation in connection with anything; to vest.
      Dower will attach.
      • 1886, Thomas M. Cooley, A Treatise on the Law of Taxation:
        it therefore becomes important to know at what time the lien for taxes will attach.
    5. To win the heart of; to connect by ties of love or self-interest; to attract; to fasten or bind by moral influence; with to.
      attached to a friend; attaching others to us by wealth or flattery
    6. To connect, in a figurative sense; to ascribe or attribute; to affix; with to.
      Synonyms: chalk up to, draw, impute; see also Thesaurus:ascribe
      to attach great importance to a particular circumstance
      Some of the guilt must attach to the parents.
      • 1879, Bayard Taylor, Studies in German Literature:
        To this treasure a curse is attached.
    7. (obsolete) To take, seize, or lay hold of.
      • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], lines 351–352:
        Then homeward every man attach the hand / Of his fair mistress.
    8. (obsolete, law) To arrest, seize.

    Derived terms

    Translations

    Anagrams

    Old Irish

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

    Prefixed with ad-, from Proto-Celtic *adtekʷom. The meaning "refuge" (attested mainly in the Milan glosses, where it is its only sense) is believed to be the original meaning, with its related literal sense vanishing from its associated verb before Old Irish.

    Noun

    attach n (genitive attaig)

    1. refuge
      • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 66d1
        .i. a·tá Día atach ṅdúnni aís de-threbo hónaib comfulidib echtrannaib .i. ar comfulidib ar chuit ceneuil .i. ais deich-thribo ro·echtrannaigtho [leg. roechtrannaigthea] huainn hua menmain naimtidiu.
        i.e. God is a refuge for us of the Two Tribes from alien kinsmen, i.e. our kinsmen by race, i.e. the Ten Tribes who were alienated from us by hostile mind.
    2. verbal noun of ad·teich: invocation, beseeching
      • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 5c17
        .i. nímchubandom attach trócaire frib; is tree rob·hícad.
        [illegible] to entreat mercy from you; it is through it that you pl have been saved.
      • c. 815-840, “The Monastery of Tallaght”, in Edward J. Gwynn, Walter J. Purton, transl., Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, volume 29, Royal Irish Academy, published 1911-1912, paragraph 7, pages 115-179:
        Tromde iarum, ro·búi frisim ind chaillech oc atach Dé co mór.
        Presently, the old woman wearied him with her loud praying to God.
      • c. 815-840, “The Monastery of Tallaght”, in Edward J. Gwynn, Walter J. Purton, transl., Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, volume 29, Royal Irish Academy, published 1911-1912, paragraph 58, pages 115-179:
        dígbail neich den praind ┐ attag nDé fris
        to take away part of the meal, and to invoke God in the matter

    Inflection

    Neuter o-stem
    singular dual plural
    nominative attachN attachN attachL, attacha
    vocative attachN attachN attachL, attacha
    accusative attachN attachN attachL, attacha
    genitive attaigL attach attachN
    dative attuchL attachaib attachaib
    Initial mutations of a following adjective:
    • H = triggers aspiration
    • L = triggers lenition
    • N = triggers nasalization

    Descendants

    • Middle Irish: attach

    Mutation

    Mutation of attach
    radical lenition nasalization
    attach
    (pronounced with /h/ in h-prothesis environments)    		 attach n-attach

    Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
    All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

    Further reading

    Spanish

    Etymology

    Etymology tree
    Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd
    Proto-Italic *ad
    Proto-Italic *ad-
    Latin ad-
    Old French a-
    Proto-Indo-European *stegʰ-
    Proto-Indo-European *-ō
    Proto-Indo-European *stogʰō?
    Proto-Germanic *stakô
    Old French estache
    Proto-Italic *-āzi
    ▲
    Latin -ereinflu.
    Latin -āre
    Old French -ier
    Old French estachier
    Old French atachierbor.
    Middle English attachen
    English attachubor.
    Spanish attach

      Unadapted borrowing from English attach.

      Verb

      attach

      1. alternative form of atachar

      Usage notes

      According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

      Further reading

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