Word.ws English Dictionary

attainder

attainder noun: the state a prisoner entered once a death sentence (usually for treason) had been issued; the state of being stripped of all civil rights.

Noun

attainder (plural attainders)

  1. (rare) The state a prisoner entered once a death sentence (usually for treason) had been issued; the state of being stripped of all civil rights.
    • Grandpa Piper led thereto by the arm […] and himself thrust into a chair, to support the character of dummy to Henry's prearranged attainder.1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, →OCLC, page 139
  2. (archaic) A stain; a state of dishonour or condemnation.
    • He lived from all attainder of suspects.c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
    • Some of the horses were registered under phony papers, their sires having been ruled off the track as doped or doctored. The hereditary attainder rule was very strict.1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 230

attainder meaning in Tamil

attainder in Tamil

இறப்புத் தண்டனையின் பின்விளைவுகள்

Synonyms of attainder

2 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of attainder

Forms of attainder

pluralattainders
alternative form (obsolete, rare)attaindre

Origin of attainder

From Anglo-Norman ataindre ("to reach"), with infinitives used as nouns being frequent in Law French. Doublet of attain and attinge.

Words formed from attainder

Phrases with attainder

Questions about attainder

What does attainder mean?
Attainder means the state a prisoner entered once a death sentence (usually for treason) had been issued; the state of being stripped of all civil rights.
What is attainder in Tamil?
Attainder in Tamil is இறப்புத் தண்டனையின் பின்விளைவுகள். See Attainder meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is attainder?
Attainder is a noun.
What is the plural of attainder?
The plural of attainder is attainders.

Words near attainder in the dictionary

  1. attainable
  2. attainable region theory
  3. attainableness
  4. attainables
  5. attainably
  6. attainder
  7. attaindered
  8. attainders
  9. attaindre
  10. attaindres
  11. attained

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: attainder (page history and authors); attainder (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-attainder.wav.

Cite this entry: “attainder.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/attainder. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.