attach
verb/əˈtæt͡ʃ/
Etymology 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.
8 senses
- 1To fasten, to join to (literally and figuratively).
- 2To adhere; to be attached.
- 3To include an attachment with a communication…
- 4To come into legal operation in connection with…
- 5To win the heart of; to connect by ties of love or…
- 6To connect, in a figurative sense; to ascribe or…
- 7To take, seize, or lay hold of.
- 8To arrest, seize.
1
To fasten, to join to (literally and figuratively).
- You need to attach the carabiner to your harness.
- An officer is attached to a certain regiment, company, or ship.
3 more examples
- [T]he ſhoulder-blade has no bony communication with the trunk, either by a joint, or proceſs, or in any other way. […] It is bedded in the fleſh; attached only to the muſcles.1802, William Paley, “Of Mechanical Arrangement in the Human Frame”, in Natural Theology: Or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, Collected from the Appearances of Nature, London: […] [F]or R[obert] Faulder, […], by Wilks and Taylor, […], →OCLC, page 117:
- A huge stone, to which the cable on the left bank was attached, was removed years later1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
- Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist:
2
To adhere; to be attached.
- The great interest which attaches to the mere knowledge of these facts cannot be doubted.1838, Henry Brougham, Political Philosophy:
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.
- it therefore becomes important to know at what time the lien for taxes will attach.1886, Thomas M. Cooley, A Treatise on the Law of Taxation:
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
- incapable of attaching a sensible man1811, [Jane Austen], Sense and Sensibility […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:
1 more example
- God […] by various ties attaches man to man.1782, William Cowper, “Charity”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC:
6
To connect, in a figurative sense; to ascribe or attribute; to affix; with to.
- to attach great importance to a particular circumstance
- Some of the guilt must attach to the parents.
1 more example
- To this treasure a curse is attached.1879, Bayard Taylor, Studies in German Literature:
7
Obsolete To take, seize, or lay hold of.
- Then homeward every man attach the hand / Of his fair mistress.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:
- Eftsoones the Gard, which on his state did wait, / Attacht that faitor false, and bound him strait […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- Old lord, I cannot blame thee, / Who am myself attach'd with weariness / To th' dulling of my spirits: sit down, and rest.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
1 more example
- The earl marshal attached Gloucester for high treason.1868–1899, Charlotte M[ary] Yonge, Cameos from English History, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC:
- Derived terms
- attachability, attachable, attached annulus, attacher, attachingness, attachment, deattach, disattach, get attached, no string attached, no-strings-attached, no strings attached, reattach, re-attach, semi-attached, string attached, strings attached, unattach, would lose one's head if it wasn't attached
- Related terms
- attachment