Attained

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /əˈteɪnd/

Definitions

1. Successfully achieved a goal or desired status through effort ; arrived at a certain position, level, or condition in space or time
2. Gained or accomplished a particular rank, age, or objective by effort or progression ; came to a specific place or state after moving or advancing
3. Completed the process of obtaining a target aim or level ; reached or obtained a certain point, stage, or limit in a sequence or journey

Etymology: The word's core idea is reaching, not possessing. Its Latin ancestor, "attingere," combined "ad-" (toward) with "tangere" ("to touch"), so to attain something was literally to touch or arrive at it. The Latin verb was already stretching in that direction: "attingere" could mean to come into contact with, but also to reach a place or affect someone. The verb passed into Old French as "ataindre," and in Middle English as "atteinen," which carried a remarkably wide range of senses. Medieval writers used it to mean to succeed, to overtake, to tamper with, and to corrupt or taint. Its legal sense, to bring someone to justice or punish them, shows how close "reaching" could sit to "catching" in older English. The modern sense of achieving a goal narrowed out of this crowd of meanings, and the older legal and corrupting senses faded away. A related English word, "attainder," descends from the same root through French and survives in legal usage, a doublet that kept the law-related sense the main verb dropped.

Synonyms: achieved, reached, obtained, secured

Antonyms: failed, lost, missed