attach

Etymology

From Middle English attachen, from Old French atachier, variant of estachier (“bind”), derived from estache (“stick”), from Frankish *stakkā, *stakō (“stick”), from Proto-Germanic *stakô (“pole, bar, stick, stake”). Doublet of attack. More at stake, stack.

verb

1. (transitive) To fasten, to join to (literally and figuratively).
   You need to attach the carabiner to your harness.
   An officer is attached to a certain regiment, company, or ship.
   Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work. 2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist
2. (intransitive) To adhere; to be attached.
   The great interest which attaches to the mere knowledge of these facts cannot be doubted. 1838, Henry Brougham, Political Philosophy
3. To come into legal operation in connection with anything; to vest.
   Dower will attach.
   it therefore becomes important to know at what time the lien for taxes will attach. 1886, Thomas M. Cooley, A Treatise on the Law of Taxation
4. To win the heart of; to connect by ties of love or self-interest; to attract; to fasten or bind by moral influence; with to.
   attached to a friend; attaching others to us by wealth or flattery
5. To connect, in a figurative sense; to ascribe or attribute; to affix; with to.
   to attach great importance to a particular circumstance
   To this treasure a curse is attached. 1879, Bayard Taylor, Studies in German Literature
6. (obsolete) To take, seize, or lay hold of.
   Then homeward every man attach the hand / Of his fair mistress. c. 1595, William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost, act 4, scene 3, lines 351–352
7. (obsolete, law) To arrest, seize.
   The earl marshal attached Gloucester for high treason. 1868, Charlotte Mary Yonge, Cameos from English History