What does attorning mean?
Attorning is the present participle of the legal verb attorn, meaning to transfer one's allegiance or loyalty to another party. Its best-known legal use concerns a tenant acknowledging a new landlord, though it can also refer to appointing or acknowledging a new attorney or legal representative. The word appears mainly in formal legal and historical writing rather than everyday speech. In a sentence, it may function nominally, as in “the attorning of the new landlord,” or as part of a verbal construction such as “attorning a replacement attorney.” Attorning is useful because it names a precise legal concept that ordinary language handles less directly: the deliberate shifting of legal allegiance from one party to another. Its unusual sound can also cause confusion with attending, but the two words have different meanings and functions.
verb (present participle)Attorning is the present participle of attorn: transferring allegiance or loyalty to another party. In legal contexts, it can refer to a tenant acknowledging a new landlord or to the appointment of a new attorney.
- Transferring allegiance or loyalty to another party, especially by acknowledging a new landlord or appointing a new attorney.
"The conveyance required the tenant's attorning of the new landlord."
"The document records the attorning of a replacement attorney."
"The tenant's attorning of the new landlord effectively transferred allegiance."
In a term that can sound like a typo, attorning is a real legal word for turning one's allegiance to a new landlord or attorney.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does attorning come from?
The present-participle form attorning was formed by adding -ing to attorn. The word entered Middle English through Anglo-French and Old French forms based on the idea of turning toward or transferring oneself to another party. Related English legal terms include attorney and attornment, while the ancestral sense is also reflected in turn.
Related word forms
How attorning is actually used
Rare, formal, and characteristic of legal or historical prose. It is normally used as a present participle or gerund in constructions such as “attorning a new landlord” and “the attorning of an attorney.”
Easily confused with attorning
Attorning means transferring legal allegiance or appointing a representative, whereas attending means being present at or giving one's attention to something.