Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AT-TACH', v.t. [Fr. attacher, to tie or fasten, to apply, to engage, to stick; Arm. staga; It. attaccare; Norm. attacher, to attack; tache, tied, fixed, tacked together; Port. Sp. atacar. It seems to be allied to attack, and the sense is, to put, throw or fall on, hence to seize, and stop, coinciding with the Eng. take; Sw. taga; Dan. tager; Sax tæccan; Gr. δεχομαι; L. tango; for tago; Eng. tack; &c. Class Dg. See Attack and Tack.]

1. To take by legal authority; to arrest the person by writ, to answer for a debt; applied to a taking of the person by a civil process; being never used for the arrest of a criminal. It is applied also to the taking of goods and real estate by an officer, by virtue of a writ or precept, to hold the same to satisfy a judgment to be rendered in the suit.
2. To take, seize and lay hold on, by moral force, as by affection or interest; to win the heart; to fasten or bind by moral influence; as, attached to a friend; attaching others to us by wealth or flattery.
3. To make to adhere; to tie, bind or fasten; as, to attach substances by any glutinous matter; to attach one thing to another by a string.