attaint

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   historical law: to condemn a person for treason or felony by attainder, extinguishing civil rights and often forfeiting property

   Parliament voted to attaint the rebel lords and confiscate their estates.

2. 2
   verb

   archaic or literary: to stain someone's honor or reputation with guilt or disgrace

   The accusation threatened to attaint the family's name for generations.

From Middle English atteinte and Old French ateint, the past participle of ateindre ("reach, strike, convict"), ultimately from Latin attingere ("touch, reach"). Some later senses and the modern spelling were influenced by the unrelated-looking but semantically close word taint.

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