ATTAIN • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Attain

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/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

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"Attain" Quotes from Famous Books

... General Officer belonging to the Royal Artillery or Engineers. There is some difficulty in making a selection from the officers of these Corps, because, from their retiring only by seniority, they seldom attain the rank of General Officer while they are still in possession of sufficient strength and activity for employment. Lord Grey, however, believes from the information he has been able to obtain, that Sir Robert Gardiner might, with advantage, be appointed to this command, ...

— The Letters of Queen Victoria, Vol 2 (of 3), 1844-1853 • Queen Victoria

... northern wilds, where snow falls frequently and in great abundance, masses are constantly accumulating on the branches of trees, particularly on the pines, on the broad flat branches of which these masses attain to considerable size. A slight touch is generally sufficient to bring these down, but, being soft, they never ...

— Silver Lake • R.M. Ballantyne

... beginning of their career. A child has its own perfection as a child; it would be ugly if it appeared as an unfinished man. Life is a continual process of synthesis, and not of additions. Our activities of production and enjoyment of wealth attain that spirit of wholeness when they are blended with a creative ideal. Otherwise they have the insane aspect of the eternally unfinished; they become like locomotive engines which have railway lines but no stations; which rush on towards a collision of uncontrolled forces or ...

— Creative Unity • Rabindranath Tagore

... in my mind. As for the higher position in society which she would attain, as an inmate of Mr. Jasper's family, that might not be to her the greatest good; but prove the most direful evil. She could not be guarded there, in her entrance into life, as we would guard her. The same love would not surround her as a protecting sphere. I tremble at the thought, Edward. ...

— True Riches - Or, Wealth Without Wings • T.S. Arthur

... 'The conception of permanent neutrality is entirely contrary to the essential nature of the state, which can only attain its highest moral aims in competition with other states.' It would seem to follow that by violating the neutrality of Belgium Germany is helping that country to attain its highest moral aims. The suggestion that Belgium is no longer a neutral Power was ...

— Why We Are At War (2nd Edition, revised) • Members of the Oxford Faculty of Modern History

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