attainverb/əˈteɪn/

• 1

  To come to or reach (a place) by motion or progression.

  • Canaan he novv attains, I ſee his Tents / Pitcht about Sechem, and the neighbouring Plaine / Of Moreh; […]
  • Now had they almost attained / The palace portal.
• 2

  To arrive at (a certain age or time, condition or state, etc.); to reach.

  • Night hangs vpon mine eyes, my Bones vvould reſt, / That have but labour'd, to attaine this houre.
  • It has also been aſſerted, by ſome naturaliſts, that men do not attain their full grovvth and ſtrength till thirty; but that vvomen arrive at maturity by tvventy.
• 3

  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.
  • Roſse [William de Ros, 6th Baron Ros]. Your preſence makes Vs rich, moſt noble Lord. / VVil. [William Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby de Eresby]. And far ſurmounts our labour to attaine it.
• 4

  archaicTo gain possession of (something tangible or intangible) through effort; to acquire, to obtain.

  • [K]ing Edwarde [IV] returned, and wͭ much leſſe nũber thẽ [number then [than]] he had, at Barnet on theſtre daye felde [the Easter Day field], ſlewe the Erle of warwik [Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick] wͭ many other great eſtates of yͤ partie, ⁊ ſo ſtably attained the crowne againe, that he peaſſybly enioyed it vntil his dieng day: […]
  • [T]hey reported their aduiſe to the kyng exortyng hym to prouyde for his force and ſtrength of men of warre⸝ to atteyne therby the towne of Berwike […]
• 5

  obsoleteTo reach (someone) after being behind them.

  • The Earle finding the Caſtle freed, and the Enemie retired, purſued vvith all celeritie into Scotland, hoping to haue ouer-taken the Scottiſh King, and to haue giuen him Battaile. But not attaining him in time, ſate dovvne before the Caſtle of Aton […] vvhich in a ſmall time hee tooke.
• 6

  obsoleteTo find out (information, knowledge, etc.); to ascertain, to get at.

  • [I]t pleaſeth God to diſcouer certayne things to his ſeruantes after this maner at the fyrſte ſpringing vp of the Goſpell: of whiche thyng we may now atteyne manifeſt knowledge by his worde.
  • And yet Maſter [William] Camden, ſometimes acknovvledgeth, ſometimes denieth him for an Engliſh Earle. Not that I accuſe him as inconſtant to himſelf, but ſuſpect my ſelf not vvell attaining his meaning therein.
• 7

  archaicOften followed by to.

  • Then ſayde the children of Joſeph: We ſhal not be able to attayne vnto the mountayne, for there are yron charettes [chariots] amonge all the Cananites, that dwell in the londe of Emek, by whom lyeth Beth Sean and the vyllages therof, and Jeſreal in Emek.
  • And becauſe the hauen was not commodious to winter in, the more part aduiſed to depart thence alſo, if by any meanes they might attaine to Phenice, and there to winter: which is an hauen of Creete, and lieth toward the Southweſt, and Northweſt.
• 8

  Often followed by to.

  • 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.

attainnoun/əˈteɪn/

• 1

  archaicSynonym of attainment.

  • —A gulf of years then severed the twain; / Till he heard—a painter of high attain— / She was dying on her domain.
• 2

  archaicSynonym of attainment.

  • Even Crovvns and Diadems, the moſt ſplendid parts of terrene attains; are akin to that, vvhich to day is in the field, and to morrovv is cut dovvn, and vvither'd: […]