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Origin and history of attach

attach(v.)

mid-14c. (mid-13c. in Anglo-Latin), "to take or seize (property or goods) by law," a legal term, from Old French atachier "fasten; arrest" (11c.), earlier estachier "to attach, fix; stake up, support" (Modern French attacher, also compare Italian attaccare), from a- "to" (see ad-) + a base also found in detach, perhaps from Frankish *stakon "a post, stake" or a similar Germanic word, from Proto-Germanic *stakon- "a stake," from PIE root *steg- (1) "pole, stick" (see stake (n.)).

The meaning "fasten, affix, connect," which probably is the original sense etymologically, is attested in English from c. 1400. Related: Attached; attaching.

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to attach

attached(adj.)

"affectionate, devoted, fond," 1793, past-participle adjective from attach in the sense of "join to or with in companionship or affection" (1765). Earlier the adjective meant "arrested" (1610s). The literal sense of "fastened on" is from 1841.

detach(v.)

1680s, "unfasten, disunite" (transitive), especially "separate for a special purpose or service," from French détacher "to detach, untie," from Old French destachier, from des- "apart" (see des-) + attachier "attach" (see attach). Related: Detached; detaching.

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Trends of attach

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

stake
"pointed stick or post; stick of wood sharpened at one end for driving into the ground, used as part of a fence, as a boundary-mark, as a post to tether an animal to, or as a support for something (a vine, a tent, etc.)," Old English staca "pin, stake," from Proto-Germanic *stako
attachment
c. 1400, attachement, "arrest of a person on judicial warrant" (mid-13c. in Anglo-Latin), from Anglo-French attachement, from Old French attacher "to attach" (see attach). The word's application to property (including, later, wages) is by 1590s; the meaning "sympathy, devotion" i
attack
c. 1600, "assault, assail, begin hostilities against," from French attaquer (16c.), from Florentine Italian attaccare (battaglia) "join (battle)," thus the word is a doublet of attach, which was used 15c.-17c. also in the sense now reserved to attack. The meaning "endeavor to bri
append
"belong, be dependent (on); attach (oneself) to; hang, hang up," and directly from Latin appendere "cause to hang (from something...The meaning "to hang on, attach as a pendant" is by 1640s; that of "attach as an appendix" is recorded by 1843....
apply
late 14c., "join or combine (with); attach (to something), adhere," from Old French aploiier "apply, use, attach" (12c.,...Modern French appliquer), from Latin applicare "attach to, join, connect;" figuratively, "devote (oneself) to, give attention...
affix
"fasten, join, attach," 1530s, from Medieval Latin affixare, frequentative of Latin affigere (past participle affixus) "fasten...to, attach," from ad "to" (see ad-) + figere "to fasten" (from PIE root *dheigw- "to stick, fix")....
rely
(transitive and intransitive), from Old French relier "assemble, put together; fasten, fasten again, attach, rally, oblige...The meaning "depend on with full trust and confidence, attach one's faith to" a person or thing is from 1570s, perhaps via...The verb rely, in the orig. sense 'fasten, fix, attach,' came to be used with a special reference to attaching one's faith...
nail
Old English negel "tapering metal pin," nægl "fingernail (handnægl), toenail," from Proto-Germanic *naglaz (source also of Old Norse nagl "fingernail," nagli "metal nail;" Old Saxon and Old High German nagel, Old Frisian neil, Middle Dutch naghel, Dutch nagel, German Nagel "finge
limber
"pliant, flexible," 1560s, of uncertain origin, possibly from limb (n.1) on notion of supple boughs of a tree [Barnhart], or from limp (adj.) "flaccid" [Skeat], or somehow from Middle English lymer "shaft of a cart" (see limber (n.)), but the late appearance of the -b- in that wo
condemn
early 14c., condempnen "to blame, censure;" mid-14c., "pronounce judgment against," from Old French condamner, condemner "to condemn" (11c.) and directly from Latin condemnare, condempnare "to sentence, doom, blame, disapprove," from assimilated form of com-, here perhaps an inte

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