attainder means the state a prisoner entered once a death sentence (usually for treason) had been issued; the state of being stripped of all civil rights. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 81 out of 100.
Why “attainder” is a great word
The legal extinction of a person's civil rights and capacities, a forfeiture both civic and genealogical, historically consequent upon a sentence of death or outlawry for treason or felony. It stems from Anglo-Norman *ataindre* ('to reach, to strike, to convict'), with the infinitive used as a noun in Law French; a doublet of 'attain' and 'attinge', first attested in English in the mid-15th century. Unlike 'conviction'—a judicial finding of guilt which may leave the rights of heirs intact—or 'disgrace'—a fluid social dishonor—attainder was a formal, metaphysical unmaking. It is the stroke of the pen that turns a lord into a non-person, the parliamentary act that seizes an estate and taints a bloodline, and the silence where a family name once echoed in the legal record—the law's most profound negation of a human's place in the civic order.
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman ataindre ("to reach"), with infinitives used as nouns being frequent in Law French. Doublet of attain and attinge.
noun
- The state a prisoner entered once a death sentence (usually for treason) had been issued; the state of being stripped of all civil rights.“Grandpa Piper led thereto by the arm […] and himself thrust into a chair, to support the character of dummy to Henry's prearranged attainder.”
- A stain; a state of dishonour or condemnation.“He lived from all attainder of suspects.”