attaint

American  

[uh-teynt] / əˈteɪnt /

verb (used with object)

1. Law. to condemn by a sentence or a bill or act of attainder.

2. to disgrace.

3. Archaic. to accuse.

4. Obsolete. to prove the guilt of.

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noun

1. Obsolete. a stain; disgrace; taint.

attaint British  

/ əˈteɪnt /

verb

1. to pass judgment of death or outlawry upon (a person); condemn by bill of attainder

2. to dishonour or disgrace

3. to accuse or prove to be guilty

4. (of sickness) to affect or strike (somebody)

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noun

1. a less common word for attainder

2. a dishonour; taint

Other Word Forms

• unattainted
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of attaint

1250–1300; Middle English ataynte, derivative of ataynt convicted < Anglo-French, Old French, past participle of ataindre to convict, attain

Example Sentences

Nor if happily boys declare Thy dominion attaint, refuse, 130 Youth, the nuts to be flinging.

From The Poems and Fragments of Catullus by Ellis, Robinson

Others of his following failed not in the "attaint," and horses and troopers floundered in the sand.

From Under the Rose by Isham, Frederic Stewart

Where you have little to suspect; And treach’rous persons will attaint Men, against whom there’s no complaint.

From The Fables of Phædrus Literally translated into English prose with notes by Riley, Henry T. (Henry Thomas)

May He have mercy on him who saith: Look thou thy hoariness preserve from aught that may it stain,      For whiteness still to take attaint is passing quick and      fain.

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Volume III by Payne, John

You, reverend sir," said the knight, "have, in the encounter of our wits, made a fair attaint; whereas I may be in some sort said to have broken my staff across.

From The Monastery by Scott, Walter, Sir