▪ I. attain, v.
(əˈteɪn)
Forms: 4 ateyn(e, ateine, ateign, 4–5 atteygne, atteigne, 4–6 atteyne, 5–6 attayne, (5 ataine), 5–7 atteine, -aine, 6– attain. pa. pple. attained; also 4–6 ateynt, etc.: see attaint.
[a. OF. ataign-, ateign-, stem of ataindre, -eindre:—L. attingĕre to touch on, get at, reach, f. ad-, at-, to + tangĕre to touch.]
I. trans. To touch, strike, attaint. (All Obs.)
† 1. To get at with a blow, strike, hit; = attaint 1. Obs.
| 1475 Caxton Jason 16 And with his spere was atteyned of the king..by suche a might that he percid the shelde. |
† 2. To touch upon (a matter), mention, treat of, deal with. Obs. (So L. attingere and OF. ateindre.)
| 1447–8 J. Shillingford Lett. (1871) 42 The mater is attainyd at large in the comyn lawe. |
† 3. To catch or detect in an offence, convict, condemn, attaint. Obs. [Common sense of OF. ateindre: cf. Britton i. xxvii. §1 La forme de atteyndre nostre pes enfreynte. ‘The manner of convicting offenders for breach of our peace’; see also s.v. ]
| 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 49 Knoute..siþen ateyned Edrik þorgh treson of old..Edrik was hanged on þe toure, for his trispas. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 5332 To reprove þam [his enmys] at þe last day, And to atteyn þam. c 1350 Harl. MS. No. 4196. 164 St. James 39 Pharisenes..went for to wit of his [Christ's] thewes, For to atteyn him in sum thing Þat þai might wrye him to the king. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 1601 He es ateyned for traytur, And fals and lither losenjoure. |
II. trans. To come so near as to touch, to overtake, reach, catch.
† 4. To approach so as to touch, encroach on. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Prov. xxiii. 10 Ne ateyne thou [1388 Touche thou not] the termes of litle childer. |
† 5. To overtake, come up with, catch up, get at or within reach of, catch. Obs.
| 1393 Gower Conf. III. 128 The fire is hote..And brenneth what he may atteigne. c 1450 Merlin xviii. 278 Thei..began to pursue the hoste so that thei ateyned hem at a passage. Ibid. xvii. 272 The saisnes..slowgh alle that thei myght atteyne. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 182 Them that they attayned dyd them neuer hurte after. 1622 Bacon Hen. VII, 174 The Earle..pursued with all celeritie..hoping to have ouer-taken the Scottish King..but not attaining him. |
6. To reach by motion, to arrive at, ‘gain’ (a point aimed at).
| c 1585 Faire Em. iii. 811 We quickly shall attain the English shore. 1616 R. C. Times' Whis. vi. 2667 By this time we th'appointed place attainde. 1805 Southey Madoc in W. i. Wks. V. 7 Now had they almost attain'd The palace portal. 1854 J. Abbott Napoleon (1855) II. xviii. 336 The heroic marshal, however, attained the opposite shore. |
b. To reach (an age or time).
| 1826 Praed Poems (1865) I. 255 Sir Lidian had attained his sixteenth year. |
7. To reach, arrive at, gain, accomplish, by continued effort (an end or purpose, a position, state, or personal quality).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 1114 Þat he ne sal caim dede [= Cain's death] a-teign. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 184 That he his purpose might atteigne. c 1400 Pol. Poems (1859) II. 8 If thou myghtest parfit pes atteigne. 1574 tr. Marlorat's Apocalips 3 Of whiche thyng we may now atteyne manifest knowledge. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. i. v. 21 Reason is not..borne with us..but attayned by Industry. 1660 R. Coke Power & Subj. 262 Yet were they so far from attaining their ends. 1738 Wesley Psalms li. xi, Let me the Life Divine attain. 1839 Keightley Hist. Eng. II. 32 His fame would never probably have attained its present eminence. |
8. To come into the possession of, to gain by effort, acquire, obtain (a possession; not now used of a material thing). arch.
| c 1386 Chaucer Frankl. T. 47 Pacience..venquysseth..Thynges þat rigour sholde neuere atteyne [v.r. atteigne, ateyne]. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 13 By whiche ye atteyne helpe of the holy gost. 1513 More Edw. V, 4 He attained the Crowne and Scepter of the Realme. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xxvi. 38 To atteyne therby the towne of Berwike. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 825/1 Manasses..dyd penaunce and attained mercy. 1639 Rouse Heav. Univ. x. (1702) 138 He teacheth them to attain a kingdom. 1653 Holcroft Procopius ii. 48 Her Husband, who at first attained her Bed by violence. 1863 Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. i. vii. 80 To concur with the Prince of Orange in attaining a free Parliament. |
† 9. To get to know, ‘get at,’ find out. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. i. 31 Þou hast now knowen and ataynt þe doutous or double visage of..fortune. Ibid. iii. iii. 69 Þat fals beaute..is knowe and a-teint in þilke þinges. 1483 Caxton Cato E iiij, Secretes that humayne nature may not attayne, knowe, ne understonde. 1571 Digges Pantom. ii. xxiv. P iij, To attayne the quantitie of this longer portion, ye shall thus worke. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. iii. v. §26 II. 180 Not well attaining his meaning. 1666 ― Hist. Camb. (1840) 105 About this time, for I cannot attain the certain year. |
III. intr. (The distance of the point reached, or the effort made, is more distinctly expressed by the intr. const. with to, unto.)
10. To come so far as, succeed in coming to, get (to). to attain to = reach, arrive at. arch.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 547 Bygyn at þe laste..Tyl to þe fyrste þat þou at-teny. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems 4 To the Blakhethe whan the did atteyne. 1535 Coverdale Joshua xvii. 16 We shal not be able to attayne vnto the mountaynes. 1608 R. Armin Nest Ninn. (1842) 18 With much adoe they attained thether againe. 1611 Bible Acts xxvii. 12 If by any meanes they might attaine to Phenice. 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. vii, Nor nearer might the dogs attain. |
† b. Without locomotion: To reach. Obs.
| 1587 Golding De Mornay xi. 161 God..atteineth to them without putting himself foorth. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. v. vi. 241 The second lay so with his backe towards the first, that his head attained about his bosome. |
† c. To come by succession, descend (to). Obs.
| 1413 Lydg. Pylgr. Sowle iv. vii. 61 To whome the synne of Adam hath atteyned by very succession and descent. |
† d. To happen (to). to attain to = overtake, befall. Obs.
| 1529 More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. Wks. 1217/2 We shall nede no rehersal of any harme that..maye attaine thereto. |
11. To live on (to a time or age).
| 1535 Coverdale 2 Esdras xi. 17 There shal none after y⊇ atteyne vnto thy tyme. 1611 Bible Gen. xlvii. 9 And haue not attained vnto the dayes of the yeeres of the life of my fathers. Mod. He has attained to years of discretion. |
12. To reach, or arrive at, a state, condition, purpose, possession; to succeed in reaching. Cf. 7, 8.
| c 1375 Wyclif Serm. ix. Sel. Wks. 1869 I. 23 No conquerrour myȝte atteyne to Lordship of al þis erþe. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 391 Sche may unto a knave childe atteigne By liklihed, sith sche nys not bareigne. 1490 Caxton Eneydos vi. 26 He sholde attayne to thende of his desire. 1535 Coverdale Ps. cxxxviii. 5 Soch knowlege is to wonderfull..for me, I can not atteyne vnto it. 1609 D. Rogers in Digby Myst. (1882) Introd. 24 It cannot be attaynd vnto in this liffe. 1710 Prideaux Tithes ii. 47 Infallibility..being what no Man can attain unto. 1782 Cowper Lett. 11 Nov., To see your trees attain to the dignity of timber. 1876 Green Short Hist. ii. §6 (1882) 90 Few boroughs had as yet attained to power such as this. |
† b. with inf. of purpose. Obs.
| 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xv. 15 Where as he thought to..attaigne to haue any company of men of warre. 1662 Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 372 He..attained to be a most accomplished person. |
† 13. = 9, but with to, unto. Obs.
| 1530 Palsgr. 439/2, I study tyll my braynes ake to perceyve this mater, but I can nat attayne to it. 1577 Holinshed Chron. III. 1168/1 Neither they nor I haue yet atteined to their names. 1628 Coke On Litt. Pref., The certain time wee cannot yet attain unto. |
† IV. Senses influenced by, or derived from, L. attinēre. Obs.
† 14. intr. To extend as far as, stretch, reach (to).
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 5497 Here riȝt arm redeli ouer Rome ateyned. 1432–50 tr. Higden (1865) I, The see Tyren atteynethe to Ytaly [L. attinet ad Italiam]. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 252 Wyth great chaines of yren attaining fro one house to an other. |
† 15. intr. To matter, concern, pertain to. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. vii. 59 What atteiniþ fame to swiche folk. |
▪ II. aˈttain, n.
[f. prec. vb.]
= attainment: a. The action of attaining; b. The thing attained.
| 1559 Myrr. for Mag., Dk. Suffolk viii. 4 There is more glory in The keping thinges than is in their attayne. 1665 Glanvill Sceps. Sci. xxiv. (J.) Crowns and diadems, the most splendid terrene attains. 1925 Hardy Human Shows 141 A painter of high attain. |
▪ III. attain
obsolete northern form of atone v.
| 1630 Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 30 To appease and attain them. |