“attaining” is a form of
attain
/əˈteɪn/ verb, noun
Forms attains attaining attained attainest attainedst attaineth
- verb To come to or reach (a place) by motion or progression.
- verb To arrive at (a certain age or time, condition or state, etc.); to reach.
- verb 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.”
- verb (archaic) To gain possession of (something tangible or intangible) through effort; to acquire, to obtain.
- verb To reach (someone) after being behind them.
- verb (figurative) To find out (information, knowledge, etc.); to ascertain, to get at.
- verb (archaic) To come to or reach a place by motion or progression; to reach.
- verb To arrive at a certain condition or state, etc.
- noun An act of arriving at or reaching; an act of obtaining by effort.
- noun That which is obtained by effort.
Synonyms
arrive at get reach accomplish acquire catch earn fulfill gain get one's hands on land obtain realize score succeed win achieve collect find gather hit fall upon strike come upon light upon chance upon come across chance on happen upon discover
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle English atteinen, atteynen (“to achieve, attain; to be adequate or sufficient; to affect; to come or get to (a place), reach; to corrupt, taint; to overcome, overpower; to overtake; to succeed; to tamper with; (law) to bring to justice, punish”), from ataign-, a stem of Anglo-Norman ataindre, and Old French ataindre, attaindre (“to reach”) (modern French atteindre), from Vulgar Latin *attangere, from Latin attingere, the present active infinitive of attingō (“to come into contact with, touch; to affect; to arrive at, reach; etc.”), from ad- (prefix indicating a nearing or reaching) (appearing as at- due to assimilation with the following t, inducing gemination) + tangō (“to grasp, touch; to arrive at, reach; to attain; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to grasp; to touch”)). Doublet of attainder and attinge.
The noun is derived from the verb.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To achieve or accomplish, that is, to reach by efforts; to gain; to compass; as, to attain rest.
- verb To gain or obtain possession of; to acquire. [Obs. with a material object.] Chaucer.
- verb To come or arrive, by motion, growth, bodily exertion, or efforts toward a place, object, state, etc.; to reach.
- verb To come or arrive, by an effort of mind.
Etymology [Of. atteinen, atteignen, , OF. ateindre, ataindre, F. atteindre, fr. L. attingere; ad + tangere to touch, reach. See Tangent, and cf. Attinge, Attaint.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “attain”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details