attain

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman ataindre, from Old French, from Latin attingō.

verb

1. (transitive) To gain (an object or desired result).
   To attain such a high level of proficiency requires hours of practice each day.
   [S]olitude is never easy to attain in a working-class home 1937, George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier, New York: Harcourt, Brace, published 1958, Part 1, Chapter 5, p. 82
   But an absolutely right time arrival of all trains on the same day is never attained. 1964 July, S. W. Smart, “The Southern needs no centralised Control”, in Modern Railways, page 50
   Where else could I […] hope to attain such an impressive income? 2007, Mohsin Hamid, chapter 11, in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Orlando: Harcourt, page 157
2. (transitive) To reach or come to, by progression or motion; to arrive at (a place, time, state, etc.).
3. (intransitive) To come or arrive, by motion, growth, bodily exertion, or efforts toward a place, object, state, etc.
   1782, William Cowper, letter to Joseph Hill dated 11 November, 1782, in Private Correspondence of William Cowper, London: Henry Colburn, 1824, Volume 1, p. 222, You may not, perhaps, live to see your trees attain to the dignity of timber—I, nevertheless, approve of your planting, and the disinterested spirit that prompts you to it.
   Few boroughs had as yet attained to power such as this, 1874, John Richard Green, A Short History of the English People, London: Macmillan, Chapter 2, Section 6, p. 90
4. (transitive, obsolete) To get at the knowledge of.
5. (transitive, obsolete) To reach in excellence or degree.
6. (transitive, obsolete) To reach a person after being behind them.