attainder
"attainder" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“attainder” is uncommon English (frequency #78,375 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #78,375
- frequency rank, English
- 3,931
- “A” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state a prisoner entered once a death sentence (usually for treason) had been issued; the state of being stripped of all civil rights.
Corpus desk
Index EN-attainder · attainder · English
attainder · rank #78,375 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #78,375
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,931
- PHOTO-FINISH ascendance
Nearest frequency peer: ascendance (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “attainder”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- argonaut
argonaut
21,630 corpus weight
- armoire
armoire
21,629 corpus weight
- ascendance
ascendance
21,627 corpus weight
- attainder
attainder
21,626 corpus weight
- auberge
auberge
21,624 corpus weight
- authenticat…
authenticator
21,623 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “attainder” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | attainder |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #78,375 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “attainder” in English
Rare enough to double-check
attainder is uncommon English at frequency #78,375 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
attainder has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Anglo-Norman ataindre ("to reach"), with infinitives used as nouns being frequent in Law French. Doublet of attain and attinge. The correct English form is attainder, spelled A-T-T-A-I-N-D-E-R.
Definition
- 1The state a prisoner entered once a death sentence (usually for treason) had been issued; the state of being stripped of all civil rights.
- 2A stain; a state of dishonour or condemnation.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how attainder appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Grandpa Piper led thereto by the arm […] and himself thrust into a chair, to support the character of dummy to Henry's prearranged attainder.
He lived from all attainder of suspects.
Etymology
From Anglo-Norman ataindre ("to reach"), with infinitives used as nouns being frequent in Law French. Doublet of attain and attinge.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "attainder", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).