attachment

[uh-tach-muhnt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR attachment ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an act of attaching or the state of being attached.

a feeling that binds one to a person, thing, cause, ideal, or the like; devotion; regard: a fond attachment to his cousin; a profound attachment to the cause of peace.

Psychology.

an emotional bond between an infant or toddler and primary caregiver, a strong bond being vital for the child’s normal behavioral and social development.
an enduring emotional bond that develops between one adult and another in an intimate relationship: romantic attachment.

something that attaches; a fastening or tie: the attachments of a harness; the attachments of a pair of skis.

an additional or supplementary device: attachments for an electric drill.

Law. seizure of property or person by legal authority, especially seizure of a defendant's property to prevent its dissipation before trial or to acquire jurisdiction over it.

something attached, as a document added to a letter.

a computer or electronic file sent with an email.

Nearby words

Origin of attachment

1400–50; late Middle English attachement seizure < Anglo-French. See attach, -ment

SYNONYMS FOR attachment

2. love, devotedness. 4. junction, connection.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR attachment ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

non·at·tach·ment, nouno·ver·at·tach·ment, nounpre·at·tach·ment, nounre·at·tach·ment, noun

self-at·tach·ment, nounsu·per·at·tach·ment, noun

Synonym study

5. See addition.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for attachment

The problem with this attachment to a particular place, though, is that it can seem limiting.
Will Texas Stay Texan?|David Fontana|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The locals worship their ancestors, and their attachment to family land is almost visceral.
Lush Places: The Scotland of India|Tunku Varadarajan|March 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For those in the movement, this means cultivating an attachment to Israel while fostering critical thinking.
Habonim Dror Cultivates A Sophisticated Take on Jewish Identity|Mira Sucharov|December 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Yet he made a rare exception for 'Ocean,' confirming his attachment to it.
What the Leaked J.D. Salinger Stories Reveal About the Author|Andrew Romano|November 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST

The combination of emotional abuse and overt sexualization resulted in an attachment disorder.
What Made Anders Behring Breivik a Mass Killer in Norway?|Aage Borchgrevink|November 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Whatever was the date or progress of the attachment, Southey was now engaged to be married.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 69, No. 425, March, 1851|Various
The attachment for the home is very strong, and they take pride in large families which stick together.
Bohemia under Hapsburg Misrule|Various
Believe in our attachment; and we shall see you here now and then, and correspond with you when you are away.
Sandra Belloni, Complete|George Meredith
The rosette is affixed with a brass bolt, also for attachment, which must have extended through the front of the cap.
American Military Insignia 1800-1851|J. Duncan Campbell and Edgar M. Howell.
His indifference was hard to bear; but so long as he assured her that he had formed no other attachment, she made no complaint.
Mary Wollstonecraft|Elizabeth Robins Pennell

British Dictionary definitions for attachment

attachment

noun

a means of securing; a fastening

(often foll by to) affection or regard (for); devotion (to)attachment to a person or to a cause

an object to be attached, esp a supplementary partan attachment for an electric drill

the act of attaching or the state of being attached

the arrest of a person for disobedience to a court order
the lawful seizure of property and placing of it under control of a court
a writ authorizing such arrest or seizure

law the binding of a debt in the hands of a garnishee until its disposition has been decided by the court

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 attachment

attachment

c.1400, "arrest of a person on judicial warrant" (mid-13c. in Anglo-Latin), from French attachement, from attacher (see attach). Application to property (including, later, wages) dates from 1590s; meaning "sympathy, devotion" is recorded from 1704; that of "something that is attached to something else" dates from 1797 and has become perhaps the most common use since the rise of e-mail.