Wiktionary

attach

English edit

Etymology edit

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.

Pronunciation edit

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

Verb edit

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 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.
  4. 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
  5. To connect, in a figurative sense; to ascribe or attribute; to affix; with to.
    to attach great importance to a particular circumstance
    • 1879, Bayard Taylor, Studies in German Literature:
      To this treasure a curse is attached.
  6. (obsolete) To take, seize, or lay hold of.
  7. (obsolete, law) To arrest, seize.

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Translations edit

Anagrams edit

Old Irish edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From ad- + a Celtic pre-form tekʷom. 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 edit

attach n (genitive ataig)

  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 edit

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 edit

  • Middle Irish: attach

Mutation edit

Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
attach unchanged n-attach
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading edit

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