What does attaining mean?
Attaining is the present participle and gerund of the verb attain, meaning to succeed in achieving or reaching something one has striven for. The word applies equally to abstract ambitions — attaining happiness, wisdom, or enlightenment — and to concrete benchmarks such as attaining a target speed, a professional qualification, or a specified age. Because it implies sustained effort and eventual success, it carries a formal, aspirational tone that makes it especially frequent in academic, legal, professional, and motivational contexts; one speaks of attaining goals or attaining majority, but rarely of merely getting them. The word derives from Latin attingere, formed from ad- ("to") plus tangere ("to touch"), so its underlying image is of stretching out until one makes contact with what was sought. That sense of hard-won arrival gives attaining its distinctive weight among near-synonyms such as obtaining or receiving.
verbPresent participle and gerund of "attain": to succeed in achieving or reaching something desired or worked toward, whether an abstract goal or a concrete level, state, or age.
- To succeed in achieving a goal or ambition through effort.
- To reach or arrive at a particular level, standard, state, or condition.
- To reach a specified age or legal status.
"After years of disciplined study, she finally succeeded in attaining her goal of becoming a surgeon."
"The company devoted a decade of research to attaining that level of precision."
"He was recognized for attaining the highest score in the history of the examination."
Hidden inside "attaining" is the Latin tangere — "to touch": to attain something is, literally, to reach out and touch it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of attaining
Attaining comes from the verb attain, which entered Middle English from Old French ataindre, itself descended from Latin attingere, meaning "to touch or reach." Attingere combines the prefix ad- ("to, toward") with tangere ("to touch"), the same root behind English words such as contact and tangible. The verb originally meant simply to reach or arrive at something physically before shifting toward the modern figurative sense of accomplishing a goal, and related forms include the noun attainment and adjective attainable.
Related word forms
How attaining is actually used
Formal in register; common in academic, legal, professional, and aspirational writing. It carries a connotation of deliberate, sustained effort rather than luck or chance, which distinguishes it from more neutral verbs like "get" or "receive." In legal contexts, phrases like "attaining majority" are fixed usage referring to reaching the age of legal adulthood.
Easily confused with attaining
"Attending" means being present at or going to an event or institution, while "attaining" means successfully achieving or reaching something.
"Obtaining" means acquiring or getting possession of something, whereas "attaining" emphasizes effortful achievement of a goal or level.