What does attorn mean?
Attorn is a legal verb meaning to transfer one's allegiance or obligations to a new superior — most commonly, for a tenant to formally acknowledge a new landlord as the rightful recipient of rent following a change in the ownership of a property. The term derives from Old French atorner, formed from a- plus torner, 'to turn', literally suggesting the act of turning oneself toward a new master. It entered English through Anglo-Norman legal usage during the feudal era, when tenants swore homage to whichever lord held their land. Though its feudal sense has faded, attorn survives in contemporary property law, especially in commercial leases, where standard clauses require sitting tenants to attorn to a purchaser so that existing leases remain valid after a sale. A closely related noun, attornment, names the formal acknowledgment itself. Because the word is technical and largely confined to conveyancing documents and court proceedings, most readers encounter it only in legal contexts — yet its historical resonance is considerable: the same root that produced attorn also gave English the word attorney, which once described a person to whom another 'turned over' legal business.
verbTo transfer one's allegiance, tenancy, or services to another landlord, superior, or party; in law, for a tenant to formally acknowledge a new landlord as the recipient of rent and homage after a transfer of the property.
- (Law) Of a tenant: to formally acknowledge a new landlord as the recipient of rent after a change of ownership of the property.
- (Historical) To transfer feudal allegiance or homage from one lord to another.
"When the estate was sold, the sitting tenants were required to attorn to the new owner before their leases could be honoured."
"Under the terms of the sale, each commercial tenant must attorn to the purchaser within thirty days of completion."
"In medieval England, a vassal who attorned to a rival lord risked forfeiting his original fief."
"Attorn" gave us "attorney": both come from the same Old French root meaning "to turn" — an attorney was originally someone you 'turned' your legal affairs over to.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of attorn
Attorn entered Middle English via Anglo-Norman and Old French atorner, composed of the prefix a- and torner ('to turn'), ultimately from Latin tornare. Its earliest sense concerned the feudal act by which a tenant transferred homage and service from one lord to another. From this same root came attorney, originally denoting one appointed to act on another's behalf — literally one to whom affairs are 'turned over'. The word's modern legal sense of acknowledging a new landlord preserves this core idea of redirecting obligation to a new recipient.
Related word forms
How attorn is actually used
A technical term used almost exclusively in legal contexts, particularly property and lease law. In modern usage it appears most often in commercial conveyancing documents and tenancy agreements, where clauses frequently require tenants to attorn to any new owner. Outside legal writing it is rare and may be unfamiliar to general readers.
Easily confused with attorn
Adorn means to decorate or add beauty to something, while attorn is a legal term meaning to transfer allegiance or tenancy to a new landlord.
An attorney is a person legally appointed to act on behalf of another, whereas attorn is the verb describing a tenant's formal acknowledgment of a new landlord.