attain
English
Etymology
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From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Anglo-Norman ataindre, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin attingō.
Pronunciation
Verb
attain (third-person singular simple present attains, present participle attaining, simple past and past participle attained)
- (transitive) To gain (an object or desired result).
- Synonyms: accomplish, achieve, get
- To attain such a high level of proficiency requires hours of practice each day.
- c. 1595 William Shakespeare, Richard II, Act II, Scene 3,[1]
- Lord Ross. Your presence makes us rich, most noble lord.
- Lord Willoughby. And far surmounts our labour to attain it.
- 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, London: Bradbury and Evans, Chapter 63, p. 572,[2]
- […] he will stick at no falsehood, or hesitate at no crime, to attain his ends.
- 1885, W. S. Gilbert, The Mikado, London: Chappell & Co., Act I, p. 6,[3]
- […] that’s the highest rank a citizen can attain!
- 1937, George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier, New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1958, Part 1, Chapter 5, p. 82,[4]
- […] solitude is never easy to attain in a working-class home
- 2007, Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Orlando: Harcourt, Chapter 11, p. 157,[5]
- Where else could I […] hope to attain such an impressive income?
- (transitive) To reach or come to, by progression or motion; to arrive at (a place, time, state, etc.).
- c. 1599 William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act V, Scene 5,[6]
- […] my bones would rest,
- That have but labour’d to attain this hour.
- 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 10, line 1026,[7]
- Canaan he now attains,
- 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, London: J. Johnson, Part 1, Chapter 4, p. 150,[8]
- It has also been asserted, by some naturalists, that men do not attain their full growth and strength till thirty; but that women arrive at maturity by twenty.
- 1818, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, London: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, Volume 1, Letter 3,[9]
- the southern gales […] blow us speedily towards those shores which I so ardently desire to attain
- c. 1599 William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act V, Scene 5,[6]
- (intransitive) To come or arrive, by motion, growth, bodily exertion, or efforts toward a place, object, state, etc.
- 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Psalm 139.6,[10]
- Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I can not attain unto it.
- 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Acts 27.12,[11]
- if by any means they might attain to Phenice
- 1782, William Cowper, letter to Joseph Hill dated 11 November, 1782, in Private Correspondence of William Cowper, London: Henry Colburn, 1824, Volume 1, p. 222,[12]
- You may not, perhaps, live to see your trees attain to the dignity of timber—I, nevertheless, approve of your planting, and the disinterested spirit that prompts you to it.
- 1810, Walter Scott, The Lady of the Lake, Edinburgh: John Ballantyne, Canto 1, stanza 7, p. 10,[13]
- For, scarce a spear’s length from his haunch,
- Vindictive toiled the blood-hounds staunch;
- Nor nearer might the dogs attain,
- Nor farther might the quarry strain.
- 1874, John Richard Green, A Short History of the English People, London: Macmillan, Chapter 2, Section 6, p. 90,[14]
- Few boroughs had as yet attained to power such as this,
- 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Psalm 139.6,[10]
- (transitive, obsolete) To get at the knowledge of.
- Synonym: ascertain
- 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-History of Britain, London: John Williams, Century 13, section 2, p. ,[15]
- […] Master Camden, sometimes acknowledgeth, sometimes denieth him for an English Earle. Not that I accuse him as inconstant to himself, but suspect my self not well attaining his meaning therein.
- (transitive, obsolete) To reach in excellence or degree.
- Synonym: equal
- 1625, Francis Bacon, Essays, “Of Innovations,” p. 139,[16]
- Yet notwithstanding as Those that first bring Honour into their Family, are commonly more worthy, then most that succeed: So the first President (if it be good) is seldome attained by Imitation.
- (transitive, obsolete) To reach a person after being behind them.
- Synonyms: catch up with, overtake
- 1622, Francis Bacon, History of the Reign of King Henry VII, London, 1629, p. 174,[17]
- The Earle finding […] the enemie retired, pursued with all celeritie into Scotland; hoping to haue ouer-taken the Scottish King, and to haue giuen him Battaile; But not attaining him in time, sate downe before the Castle of Aton […] which in a small time hee tooke.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
to accomplish; to achieve
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