Drag to pan · scroll to zoom
Drag to rotate
Tracing “”…
Where does the word "attain" come from? It comes from Latin attingere, passing through Old French before entering English (1300s).
Read the full story
Where does the word "attain" come from? It comes from Latin attingere, passing through Old French before entering English (1300s).
Attain’s story begins in Latin: attingere meant “to touch, reach.” 'ad-' plus 'tangere', to touch. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old French as ataindre. Also gave legal 'attainder', loss of rights for treason. It reached English by 1300s as attain. 'attainable' dates from the 1600s. Today, attain means to succeed in achieving.
- Stage 1 · Latin · ancient attingere "to touch, reach", 'ad-' plus 'tangere', to touch.
- Stage 2 · Old French · medieval ataindre "to reach", also gave legal 'attainder', loss of rights for treason.
- Stage 3 · English · 1300s attain "to reach", 'attainable' dates from the 1600s.