attain
To come to or reach by motion or progressionTo come to or reach (a place) by motion or progression.
» She attained her success through hard work.
Она достигла успеха тяжёлым трудом.
Вона досягла успіху завдяки важкій праці.
Meaning
15 senses(transitive)To come to or reach (a place) by motion or progression.
(figuratively, transitive)To arrive at (a certain age or time, condition or state, etc.); to reach.
reach a point in time, or a certain state or level
(figuratively, transitive)To gain (a desired result or other objective) through effort; to accomplish, to achieve.
To attain such a high level of proficiency requires hours of practice each day.
erlangen, erreichen, erringen
добива́тьсяdobivátʹsja, доби́тьсяdobítʹsja, достига́тьdostigátʹ
to gain with effort
Often followed by to.
(figuratively, intransitive)To arrive at a certain condition or state, etc.
(figuratively, intransitive)To gain possession of something tangible or intangible through effort.
(archaic, figuratively, transitive)To gain possession of (something tangible or intangible) through effort; to acquire, to obtain.
(obsolete, transitive)To reach (someone) after being behind them.
(figuratively, obsolete, transitive)To find out (information, knowledge, etc.); to ascertain, to get at.
Often followed by to.
(archaic, intransitive)To come to or reach a place by motion or progression; to reach.
(intransitive, obsolete)To come to or reach a position without moving from one place to another.
(intransitive, obsolete)To extend or reach from one position to another; to stretch.
(figuratively, intransitive, obsolete)To find out information, knowledge, etc.
find unexpectedly
Examples
57 sentencesShe attained her success through hard work.
Вона досягла успіху завдяки важкій праці.
ruОна достигла успеха тяжёлым трудом.
He attained his goal.
Він досяг своєї мети.
ruОн достиг своей цели.
deEr erreichte sein Ziel.
They attained their goal.
Вони досягли своєї мети.
ruОни достигли своей цели.
deSie erreichten ihr Ziel.
Tom attained his goal.
Том досяг своєї мети.
deTom erreichte sein Ziel.
At last he attained his goal.
deSchließlich erreichte er sein Ziel.
Translations
7 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
The verb is derived from Middle English atteinen, atteynen (“to achieve, attain; to be adeThe verb is derived from Middle English atteinen, atteynen (“to achieve, attain; to be adequate or sufficient; to affect; to come or get to (a place), reach; to corrupt, taint; to overcome, overpower; to overtake; to succeed; to tamper with; (law) to bring to justice, punish”), from ataign-, a stem of Anglo-Norman ataindre, and Old French ataindre, attaindre (“to reach”) (modern French atteindre), from Vulgar Latin *attangere, from Latin attingere, the present active infinitive of attingō (“to come into contact with, touch; to affect; to arrive at, reach; etc.”), from ad- (prefix indicating a nearing or reaching) (appearing as at- due to assimilation with the following t, inducing gemination) + tangō (“to grasp, touch; to arrive at, reach; to attain; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to grasp; to touch”)). Doublet of attainder and attinge.
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Forms
attains, attaining, attained, attainedSynonyms
57 synonyms- reach a point in time, or a certain state or level:reachhit
- reach a destination, either real or abstract:reachmakehitarrive atgain
- to gain with effort:achieveaccomplishreach
- find unexpectedly:fall uponstrikecome uponlight uponchance uponcome acrosschance onhappen upon
Word family
10 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle