attainder

[uh-teyn-der]

noun

the legal consequence of judgment of death or outlawry for treason or felony, involving the loss of all civil rights.

Obsolete. dishonor.

Origin of attainder

1425–75; late Middle English, noun use of Anglo-French attaindre to convict, Old French ataindre to convict, attain

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

Examples from the Web for attainder

Historical Examples of attainder

This Bill of his Attainder shall not have One true man's hand to it.
Browning's England
Helen Archibald Clarke
The first measure brought forward was the repeal of Pole's attainder.
The Reign of Mary Tudor
W. Llewelyn Williams.
A period from about the death of Anne Boleyn to his attainder.
Notes and Queries, Number 189, June 11, 1853
Various
Is attainder and corruption of blood ever a proper punishment?
Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume I (of 10)
John Gibson Lockhart
This bill of attainder was passed by a large majority—yeas 204, nays 59.
Charles I
Jacob Abbott

British Dictionary definitions for attainder

attainder

noun

(formerly) the extinction of a person's civil rights resulting from a sentence of death or outlawry on conviction for treason or felonySee also bill of attainder

obsolete dishonour

Archaic equivalent: attainture (əˈteɪntʃə)

Word Origin for attainder

C15: from Anglo-French attaindre to convict, from Old French ateindre to attain

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 attainder

"extinction of rights of a person sentenced to death or outlaw," mid-15c., from noun use of Old French ataindre "to touch upon, strike, hit, seize, accuse, condemn" (see attain). For use of French infinitives as nouns, especially in legal language, cf. waiver.