English
attach
Attach comes from Old French atachier ‘to attach’, from estachier ‘bind’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *stakô ‘pole, bar, stick, stake’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stakô1‘pole, bar, stick, stake’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*stakkā1reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400estache1‘stick’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400estachier1‘bind’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400atachier1‘to attach’variant of estachier
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500attachen1
- Englishearliest quotation 1590attach1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English attach
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto XII: “Eftsoones the Gard, which on his state did wait,…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stakôWiktionary, English attach‘pole, bar, stick, stake’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*stakkāWiktionary, English attachreconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400estacheWiktionary, English attach‘stick’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400estachierWiktionary, English attach‘bind’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400atachierWiktionary, English attach‘to attach’variant of estachier
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500attachenWiktionary, English attach
- Englishearliest quotation 1590attachWiktionary, English attach. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto XII: “Eftsoones the Gard, which on his state did wait,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *stakô ‘pole, bar, stick, stake’
through Old French atachier ‘to attach’
Today it means
verb To fasten, to join to (literally and figuratively).
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “attach”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *stakô / attach