ATTAIN • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Attain

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/ətˈeɪn/ Listen

verb

Attain v. t. (past & past part. attained; pres. part. attaining)

1.

To achieve or accomplish, that is, to reach by efforts; to gain; to compass; as, to attain rest. "Is he wise who hopes to attain the end without the means?"

2.

To gain or obtain possession of; to acquire. (Obs. with a material object.)

3.

To get at the knowledge of; to ascertain. (Obs.) "Not well attaining his meaning."

4.

To reach or come to, by progression or motion; to arrive at. "Canaan he now attains."

5.

To overtake. (Obs.)

6.

To reach in excellence or degree; to equal.

Synonyms: To Attain, Obtain, Procure. Attain always implies an effort toward an object. Hence it is not synonymous with obtain and procure, which do not necessarily imply such effort or motion. We procure or obtain a thing by purchase or loan, and we obtain by inheritance, but we do not attain it by such means.

Attain v. i.

1.

To come or arrive, by motion, growth, bodily exertion, or efforts toward a place, object, state, etc.; to reach. "If by any means they might attain to Phenice." "Nor nearer might the dogs attain." "To see your trees attain to the dignity of timber." "Few boroughs had as yet attained to power such as this."

2.

To come or arrive, by an effort of mind. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I can not attain unto it."

noun

Attain n. Attainment. (Obs.)

See images of 'Attain'

Etymology of 'Attain'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Attain" Quotes from Famous Books

... part of man to attain to godliness were by the schoolmen said to deserve grace de ...

— The Church Handy Dictionary • Anonymous

... great eminence. That the titled and wealthy should advance to power and influence in a government peculiarly influenced by such recommendations, is not strange. Any son of a great English house, who has ambition, and a reasonable share of brains, may attain, with comparative ease, eminence in the state. An apt example is Lord Russell, who, with but little genius, with no oratorical force, and hardly more than medium capacity as a statesman, has become the leader of the predominant party, by dint of shrewdness, a persevering spirit, and ambition, ...

— Continental Monthly - Volume 1 - Issue 3 • Various

... of all eyes and a watchful dumbness settled down upon them like a pall. Frantically she tried to remember her instructions. But never had a light conversational manner seemed more difficult to attain. ...

— The Window-Gazer • Isabel Ecclestone Mackay

... then is she known, and who can tell us any tidings concerning her? Destruction and death assure us, that they have heard with their ears of her fame and renown. It is, then, in dying to all things, and in being truly lost to them, passing forward into God, and existing only in Him, that we attain to some knowledge of the true wisdom. Oh, how little are her ways known, and her dealings with her most chosen servants. Scarce do we discover anything thereof, but surprised at the dissimilitude betwixt the truth we ...

— The Autobiography of Madame Guyon • Jeanne Marie Bouvier de La Motte Guyon

... Mrs. Custance is not a woman, merely a psychological problem to me. She cares for only one person—herself, and that self she regards as a celestial body around which all other lesser bodies should revolve. To attain this necessary consummation she adopts a chameleon character, altering herself to suit all who approach her. To you she is sweet, and inclined to gush; to me, a woman whose interests are in the stern affairs of life; to another an artist—something ...

— Grey Town - An Australian Story • Gerald Baldwin

Copyright © 2025 e-Free Translation.com