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attaché

[a-ta-shey, at-uh- or, esp. British, uh-tash-ey]
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noun
  1. a diplomatic official attached to an embassy or legation, especially in a technical capacity: a commercial attaché; a cultural attaché.
  2. a military officer who is assigned to a diplomatic post in a foreign country in order to gather military information: an air attaché; an army attaché; a naval attaché.
  3. Also at·ta·che. attaché case.
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Origin of attaché

1825–35; < French: literally, attached, past participle of attacher to attach
Can be confusedattach attaché
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for attache

Historical Examples

  • Attache to the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs does not seem so good.

    Jacqueline, Complete

    (Mme. Blanc) Th. Bentzon

  • I kinder think that it will be respectable to be Attache to such a man as that.

    The Attache

    Thomas Chandler Haliburton

  • The last personage is Jube Japan, a black servant of the Attache.

    The Attache

    Thomas Chandler Haliburton

  • He took the attache's arm, and left the small sacristry with him.

  • Is the first attache of the legation, Baron Werdern, in the palace?

British Dictionary definitions for attache

attaché

noun
  1. a specialist attached to a diplomatic missionmilitary attaché
  2. British a junior member of the staff of an embassy or legation
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Word Origin

C19: from French: someone attached (to a mission), from attacher to attach
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for attache

n.

1835, from French attaché "junior officer attached to the staff of an ambassador, etc.," literally "attached," past participle of attacher "to attach" (see attach). Attache case "small leather case for carrying papers" first recorded 1900.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
attache in Culture

attaché

[(a-ta-shay, at-uh-shay)]

A diplomatic officer attached to an embassy or consulate. Most attachés have specialties, such as military attachés, cultural attachés, economic attachés, and so forth.

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Note

Some nations disguise spies as attachés.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.