attainder
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Anglo-Norman ataindre ("to reach"), with infinitives used as nouns being frequent in Law French. Doublet of attain and attinge.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editattainder (plural attainders)
- (law, rare) The state a prisoner enters once a death sentence (usually for treason) had been issued; the state of being stripped of all civil rights.
- (archaic) A stain; a state of dishonour or condemnation.
- c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v], line 32:
- He lived from all attainder of suspects.
- 1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 230:
- Some of the horses were registered under phony papers, their sires having been ruled off the track as doped or doctored. The hereditary attainder rule was very strict.
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
editthe state of a prisoner after a death sentence
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Anagrams
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- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *teh₂g- (touch)
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