attaint

C2 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /əˈteɪnt/ UK /əˈteɪnt/ See IPA manual

Freq #260880

Meanings

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

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.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · historical law: to condemn... condemn proscribe disfranchise

2 verb · archaic or literary: to... dishonor disgrace sully taint

Opposites

acquit exonerate vindicate

Word family

Forms attainted

Derived forms attaintmentunattaint

Related forms attainder forfeiture treason taint

Etymology

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.

Topics

Actions & Processes Register & Style

External links

# attaint

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /əˈteɪnt/
**IPA (UK):** /əˈteɪnt/
**Frequency rank:** 260880

## Meanings
1. historical law: to condemn a person for treason or felony by attainder, extinguishing civil rights and often forfeiting property
2. archaic or literary: to stain someone's honor or reputation with guilt or disgrace

## Examples
- Parliament voted to attaint the rebel lords and confiscate their estates.
- The accusation threatened to attaint the family's name for generations.

## Synonyms
- condemn
- proscribe
- disfranchise
- dishonor
- disgrace
- sully

## Antonyms
- acquit
- exonerate
- vindicate

## Derived Forms
- attaintment
- unattaint

## Related Forms
- attainder
- forfeiture
- treason
- taint

## Etymology
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.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Register & Style

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