attaint
Americanverb (used with object)
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Law. to condemn by a sentence or a bill or act of attainder.
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to disgrace.
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Archaic. to accuse.
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Obsolete. to prove the guilt of.
noun
verb
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to pass judgment of death or outlawry upon (a person); condemn by bill of attainder
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to dishonour or disgrace
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to accuse or prove to be guilty
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(of sickness) to affect or strike (somebody)
noun
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a less common word for attainder
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a dishonour; taint
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of attaint
1250–1300; Middle English ataynte, derivative of ataynt convicted < Anglo-French, Old French, past participle of ataindre to convict, attain
Vocabulary lists containing attaint
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Rosader's third Sonnet Of virtuous love myself may boast alone, Since no suspect my service may attaint: For perfect fair she is the only one, Whom I esteem for my belovèd saint.
From Rosalynde or, Euphues' Golden Legacy by Edward Chauncey Baldwin
For in an attaint under Henry the Sixt, one of the Jury challenged himselfe because his ancestors had been Baronets and Seigneurs des Parlements.
From Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 90, July 19, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Geneologists, etc. by Various
The chivalry of Austria will surely suffer no attaint from one whose distinction it is to be your relative, and a Dalton.
From The Daltons, Volume II (of II) Or,Three Roads In Life by Charles James Lever
They were wholesomely housed in healthful places, and they were clad fitly for their labor and fitly for their leisure; the caprices of vanity were not suffered to attaint the beauty of the national dress.
From A Traveler from Altruria: Romance by William Dean Howells
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 Henry T. (Henry Thomas) Riley
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
