attaint

/əˈteɪnt/

attaint adjective: convicted, attainted.

Adjective

attaint (comparative more attaint, superlative most attaint)

(obsolete) Convicted, attainted.
(obsolete) Attainted; corrupted.
- My tender youth was never yet attaint
  With any passion of inflaming love,1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

attaint (third-person singular simple present attaints, present participle attainting, simple past and past participle attainted)

(archaic) To subject to attainder; to condemn (someone) to death and extinction of all civil rights.
- Tom Truth is attainted. All he has — not much — is forfeit to the king, and he is entitled to nothing but a traitorʼs death.2020, Hilary Mantel, The Mirror and the Light, Fourth Estate, page 216
(archaic) To subject to calumny; to accuse of a crime or dishonour.
- CHARLES STUART. Attainted and proscribed by name and grade in his British regiment.1929, William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury, New York: Vintage, published 1956, Appendix, p. 405
(archaic) To taint; to corrupt, sully.
- Amoret right fearefull was and faint, / Lest she with blame her honor should attaint […].1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
- Jem felt that his own character had been attainted; and that to many it might still appear suspicious.1848, Elizabeth Gaskell, chapter 34, in Mary Barton

attaint (plural attaints)

(archaic) A blow or strike, especially in jousting.
- This politic selection did not alter the fortune of the field, the challengers were still successful: one of their antagonists was overthrown, and both the others failed in the “attaint”, that is, in striking the helmet and shield of their antagonist firmly and strongly, with the lance held in a...1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co....
- At the moment of impact, the king’s eyes are open, his body braced for the atteint; he takes the blow perfectly, its force absorbed by a body securely armoured, moving in the right direction, moving at the right speed.2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate, published 2010, page 484
A wound on the leg of a horse caused by a blow.
(obsolete) The giving of a false verdict by a jury; the conviction of such a jury, and the reversal of the verdict.

தண்டனையாக உரிமை இழக்கும்படிசெய், இழிவுபடுத்து, குற்றவாளியென முடிவுசெய், மன்பகைத் தண்டனையாக உரிமை இழக்கும்படிசெய்

Adjective
comparative	more attaint
superlative	most attaint
alternative form	atteint
Verb
third-person singular present	attaints
present participle	attainting
past participle	attainted
past	attainted
Noun
plural	attaints

From Middle English atteinte, from Old French ateint, past participle of ateindre; in some senses influenced by taint.

10 more rhymesFewer rhymes

What does attaint mean?: Attaint means convicted, attainted.
What is attaint in Tamil?: Attaint in Tamil is தண்டனையாக உரிமை இழக்கும்படிசெய், இழிவுபடுத்து, குற்றவாளியென முடிவுசெய். See Attaint meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is attaint?: Attaint can be an adjective, a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce attaint?: Attaint is pronounced /əˈteɪnt/.

Adapted from Wiktionary: attaint (page history and authors); attaint (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: 2026-09-02

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