attachment

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: at=tach=ment

CIDE DICTIONARY

attachment, n. [F. attachment.].

•  The act attaching, or state of being attached; close adherence or affection; fidelity; regard; anas, an attachment to a friend, or to a party.  [1913 Webster]
•  That by which one thing is attached to another; connection; as, to cut the attachments of a muscle.  [1913 Webster]

  "The human mind . . . has exhausted its forces in the endeavor to rend the supernatural from its attachment to this history."  [1913 Webster]
•  Something attached; some adjunct attached to an instrument, machine, or other object; as, a sewing machine attachment (i. e., a device attached to a sewing machine to enable it to do special work, as tucking, etc.).  [1913 Webster]
•  A seizure or taking into custody by virtue of a legal process.  [1913 Webster]

  " The term is applied to a seizure or taking either of persons or property. In the serving of process in a civil suit, it is most generally applied to the taking of property, whether at common law, as a species of distress, to compel defendant's appearance, or under local statutes, to satisfy the judgment the plaintiff may recover in the action. The terms attachment and arrest are both applied to the taking or apprehension of a defendant to compel an appearance in a civil action. Attachments are issued at common law and in chancery, against persons for contempt of court. In England, attachment is employed in some cases where capias is with us, as against a witness who fails to appear on summons. In some of the New England States a writ of attachment is a species of mesne process upon which the property of a defendant may be seized at the commencement of a suit and before summons to him, and may be held to satisfy the judgment the plaintiff may recover. In other States this writ can issue only against absconding debtors and those who conceal themselves. See Foreign, Garnishment, Trustee process."  Bouvier. Burrill. Blackstone.  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- Attachment, Affection

OXFORD DICTIONARY

attachment, n.
1 a thing attached or to be attached, esp. to a machine, device, etc., for a special function.
2 affection, devotion.
3 a means of attaching.
4 the act of attaching or the state of being attached.
5 legal seizure.
6 a temporary position in, or secondment to, an organization.

Etymology

ME f. F attachement f. attacher (as ATTACH, -MENT)

THESAURUS

attachment

Amor, Christian love, Eros, Platonic love, accession, accessory, accompaniment, accounting for, addenda, addendum, additament, addition, additive, additory, additum, adherence, adhesion, adhesive, adjunct, adjunction, adjuvant, admiration, adoration, affection, affinity, affixation, affixing, agape, agglutination, allegiance, angary, annex, annexation, annexure, answerability, appanage, appendage, appendant, appliance, application, appurtenance, appurtenant, ardency, ardor, arrogation, ascription, assignation, assignment, attaching, attribution, augment, augmentation, binding, blame, bodily love, bona fides, bond, bonne foi, brotherly love, caritas, charge, charity, clasping, coda, collectivization, commandeering, communalization, communization, complement, concomitant, confiscation, conjugal love, connection, connection with, constancy, continuation, corollary, credit, decoration, derivation from, desire, device, devotedness, devotion, distraint, distress, eminent domain, etiology, execution, expropriation, extension, extra, extrapolation, faith, faithful love, faithfulness, fancy, fastener, fastening, fealty, fervor, fidelity, firmness, fixing, fixture, flame, fondness, free love, free-lovism, friendliness, friendship, gadget, garnishment, girding, good faith, heart, hero worship, homage, honor, hooking, idolatry, idolism, idolization, impoundment, impressment, imputation, increase, increment, joining, junction, juxtaposition, knot, lasciviousness, lashing, levy, libido, ligation, like, liking, link, linking, love, lovemaking, loyalty, married love, nationalization, offshoot, ornament, palaetiology, part, partiality, passion, pendant, physical love, piety, placement, popular regard, popularity, prefixation, reference to, regard, reinforcement, responsibility, right of angary, saddling, sentiment, sequestration, sex, sexual love, shine, side effect, side issue, socialization, spiritual love, splice, staunchness, steadfastness, sticking, suffixation, superaddition, superfetation, superjunction, superposition, supplement, supplementation, tailpiece, tender feeling, tender passion, tenderness, tie, tieing, troth, true blue, truelove, trueness, undergirding, uniting, uxoriousness, weakness, worship, yearning, zipping

ROGET THESAURUS

attachment

Junction

N junction, joining, joinder, union connection, conjunction, conjugation, annexion, annexation, annexment, astriction, attachment, compagination, vincture, ligation, alligation, accouplement, marriage infibulation, inosculation, symphysis, anastomosis, confluence, communication, concatenation, meeting, reunion, assemblage, coition, copulation, sex, sexual congress, sexual conjunction, sexual intercourse, love-making, joint, joining, juncture, pivot, hinge, articulation, commissure, seam, gore, gusset, suture, stitch, link, miter mortise, closeness, tightness coherence, combination, annexationist, joined, joint, conjoint, conjunct, corporate, compact, hand in hand, firm, fast, close, tight, taut, taught, secure, set, intervolved, inseparable, indissoluble, insecable, severable, jointly, in conjunction with, fast, firmly intimately, tria juncta in uno.

Love

N love, fondness, liking, inclination, regard, dilection, admiration, fancy, affection, sympathy, fellow-feeling, tenderness, heart, brotherly love, benevolence, attachment, yearning, eros, tender passion, amour, gyneolatry, gallantry, passion, flame, devotion, fervor, enthusiasm, transport of love, rapture, enchantment, infatuation, adoration, idolatry, Cupid, Venus, myrtle, true lover's knot, love token, love suit, love affair, love tale, love story, the, old story, plighted love, courtship, amourette, free love, maternal love, storge, parental love, young love, puppy love, attractiveness, popularity, favorite, lover, suitor, follower, admirer, adorer, wooer, amoret, beau, sweetheart, inamorato, swain, young man, flame, love, truelove, leman, Lothario, gallant, paramour, amoroso, cavaliere servente, captive, cicisbeo, caro sposo, inamorata, ladylove, idol, darling, duck, Dulcinea, angel, goddess, cara sposa, betrothed, affianced, fiancee, flirt, coquette, amorette, pair of turtledoves, abode of love, agapemone, loving, fond of, taken with, struck with, smitten, bitten, attached to, wedded to, enamored, charmed, in love, love-sick, over head and ears in love, head over heels in love, affectionate, tender, sweet upon, sympathetic, loving, amorous, amatory, fond, erotic, uxorious, ardent, passionate, rapturous, devoted, motherly, loved, beloved well beloved, dearly beloved, dear, precious, darling, pet, little, favorite, popular, congenial, after one's mind, after one's taste, after one's fancy, after one's own heart, to one's mind, to one's taste, to one's fancy, to one's own heart, in one's good graces, dear as the apple of one's eye, nearest to one's heart, lovable, adorable, lovely, sweet, attractive, seductive, winning, charming, engaging, interesting, enchanting, captivating, fascinating, bewitching, amiable, like an angel, amantes amentes, credula res amor est, militat omnis amasius, love conquers all, omnia vincit amor, si vis amari ama, the sweetest joy, the wildest woe.