Attaint, subst., 1) stain, spot, disgrace: “to him that is as clear from this a. of mine,” Lucr. 825. “I will not poison thee with my a.” Lucr. 825 “may'st without a. o'erlook the dedicated words,” Sonn. 82, 2. “what simple thief brags of his own a.?” Err. III, 2, 16. “there is no man hath a virtue that he hath not a glimpse of, or any man an a. but he carries some stain of it,” Troil. I, 2, 26.
2) infection, impairment: “the marrow-eating sickness whose a. disorder breeds,” Ven. 741. “but freshly looks and overbears a. with cheerful semblance,” H5 IV Chor. H5 IV Chor.
3) conviction, impeachment: “I arrest thee on capital treason, and in thine a. this gilded serpent,” Lr. V, 3, 83 (Ff. arrest).
Shakespeare Lexicon. Alexander Schmidt. Berlin. Georg Reimer. 1902.
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