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attainder

[ uh-teyn-der ]

noun

  1. the legal consequence of judgment of death or outlawry for treason or felony, involving the loss of all civil rights.
  2. Obsolete. dishonor.


attainder

/ əˈteɪndə /

noun

  1. (formerly) the extinction of a person's civil rights resulting from a sentence of death or outlawry on conviction for treason or felony See also bill of attainder
  2. obsolete.
    dishonour
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of attainder1

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English attaynder, atteindor, noun use of Old French ataindre, ateindre “to attain, touch (upon), affect, convict”; attain
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Word History and Origins

Origin of attainder1

C15: from Anglo-French attaindre to convict, from Old French ateindre to attain
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Example Sentences

That, courts have agreed, is very British in its bill of attainder origins.

From Time

That gentleman had been permitted to pass an act of attainder, which had lain unnoticed on the table for six weeks.

His attainder, and that of his family, together with the forfeiture of his lands, was then pronounced.

In 1759 his attainder was reversed, but he continued to live abroad.

The charge of high treason could not be legally established, and a bill of attainder was passed against him in 1645.

Dare you put eight and twenty millions of men into your bill of attainder?

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