English
attachment
Attachment comes from French attacher ‘to attach’, from Old French estachier ‘bind’, and ultimately from Medieval Latin staca ‘a stake’.
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500staca‘a stake’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400estache‘stick’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400estachier‘bind’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400atachier‘to attach’variant of estachier
- Frenchc. 1600–presentattacher‘to attach’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentattachement
- Englishearliest quotation 1978attachment
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500staca‘a stake’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400estache‘stick’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400estachier‘bind’
- Old French, derivedc. 842–1400atachier‘to attach’variant of estachier
- Frenchc. 1600–presentattacher‘to attach’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentattachement
- Englishearliest quotation 1978attachment
Earliest quotation: 1978, Walter H. Wager, Time of reckoning: “Zimchenko's phone had a tape attachment, […]”
Equivalent to attach + -ment
Proto-Germanic *stakô ‘pole, bar, stick, stake’
…
Old French estache ‘stick’
Old French estachier ‘bind’
Old French atachier ‘to attach’
Middle English attachen
English attach
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *stakô ‘a stake’
through Old French atachier ‘to attach’
etiquette, detach, staccato, 3 more
through French attacher ‘to attach’
Today it means
noun The act or process of (physically or figuratively) attaching.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Medieval Latin staca / attachment