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Origin and history of attack

attack(v.)

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 bring into discredit by writing, proposals, etc." is from 1640s. The general sense of "begin action" is from 1670s, originally of diseases. Related: Attacked; attacking.

attack(n.)

1660s, "violent onset, a falling on with violence and force," from attack (v.). The meaning "fit of a disease" is from 1811. Compare Middle English attach "a seizure or attack" (of fever), late 14c.

also from 1660s

Entries linking to attack

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.

counterattack(n.)

also counter-attack, "attack made in response to an enemy's attack," by 1850; as two words from 1817, from counter- + attack (n.). The verb is recorded from 1867. Related: Counter-attacked; counter-attacking.

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    Trends of attack

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

    More to explore

    defend
    mid-13c., defenden, "to shield from attack, guard against assault or injury," from Old French defendre (12c.) "defend, resist," and directly from Latin defendere "ward off, protect, guard, allege in defense," from de "from, away" (see de-) + -fendere "to strike, hit, push," attes
    round
    c. 1300 (early 13c. as a surname), "spherical in shape; circular in outline," of persons or animals, "well-fed;" from Anglo-French rounde, Old French roont (12c., Modern French rond), probably originally *redond, from Vulgar Latin *retundus (source also of Provençal redon, Spanis
    snipe
    a name of various small, long-billed marsh birds, early 14c., from Old Norse -snipa in myrisnipa "moor snipe;" perhaps a common Germanic term (compare Old Saxon sneppa, Middle Dutch snippe, Dutch snip, Old High German snepfa, German Schnepfe "snipe," Swedish snäppa "sandpiper"),
    infest
    late 15c., "to attack, assail, hurt, distress, annoy," from Old French infester (14c.), from Latin infestare "to attack,...Sense of "swarm over in large numbers, attack parasitically" first recorded c. 1600. Related: Infested; infesting....
    aggression
    1610s, "unprovoked attack," from French aggression (16c., Modern French agression), from Latin aggressionem (nominative aggressio...) "a going to, an attack," noun of action from past-participle stem of aggredi "to approach; to attempt; to attack," from...
    assault
    late 14c., earlier asaut (c. 1200), "physical attack (on a person), sudden violent onslaught (on a place)," from Old French...asaut, assaut "an attack, an assault, attacking forces" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *adsaltus "attack, assault," from ad "...
    invasion
    mid-15c., invasioun, "an assault, attack, act of entering a country or territory as an enemy," from Old French invasion "...invasion, attack, assault" (12c.), from Late Latin invasionem (nominative invasio) "an attack, invasion," noun of action...stem of Latin invadere "to go, come, or get into; enter violently, penetrate into as an enemy, assail, assault, make an attack...
    devolution
    1540s, in reference to property, qualities, etc., "descent by natural or due succession," agent noun from devolve. Meaning "act of transferring or handing over" is from 1620s. Etymological sense "act of rolling down" (1620s) was rare in English and is archaic or obsolete. In biol
    torpedo
    1520s, "electric ray" (flat fish that produces an electric charge to stun prey or for defense), from Latin torpedo "electric ray," originally "numbness, sluggishness" (the fish so called from the effect of being jolted by the ray's electric discharges), from torpere "be numb" (fr
    bombard
    early 15c., "catapult, military engine for throwing large stones" ("The name generally given in Europe to the cannon during the 1st century of its use," says Century Dictionary), from Old French bombarde "mortar, catapult" (14c.), from bombe (see bomb (n.)). The same word, from t

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