English
attack
Attack comes from French attaque, from attaquer, from Italian attaccare ‘to join (battle)’, from Frankish *stakkijan ‘to stick, attach’.
- Frankishc. 250–700*stakkijan1‘to stick, attach’reconstructed
- Italianc. 1300–presentattaccare1‘to join, attach’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentattaquer1
- Frenchc. 1600–presentattaque1
- Englishearliest quotation 1849–1861attack1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English attack
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, London: Longman: “On the fourth of March he was attacked by…”.
Lineage
- Frankishc. 250–700*stakkijanWiktionary, English attack‘to stick, attach’reconstructed
- Italianc. 1300–presentattaccareWiktionary, English attack‘to join, attach’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentattaquerWiktionary, English attack
- Frenchc. 1600–presentattaqueWiktionary, English attack
- Englishearliest quotation 1849–1861attackWiktionary, English attack. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, London: Longman: “On the fourth of March he was attacked by…”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with attack, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- ‘to be sharp’
through Proto-Germanic *stikaną ‘to stick’
21 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
noun An attempt to cause damage, injury to, or death of an opponent or enemy.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “attack”. 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 / Frankish *stakkijan / attack