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Abut vs Attach - What's the difference?

abut | attach |

In lang=en terms the difference between abut and attach

is that abut is to border upon; be next to; abut on; be adjacent to; to support by an abutment while attach is to adhere; to be attached.

As verbs the difference between abut and attach

is that abut is to touch by means of a mutual border, edge or end; to border on; to lie adjacent; to project; to terminate; to be contiguous; to meet, of an estate, country, etc while attach is (obsolete|legal) to arrest, seize.

abut

English

Alternative forms

* abutt

Verb

(abutt)
  • To touch by means of a mutual border, edge or end; to border on; to lie adjacent; to project; to terminate; to be contiguous; to meet, of an estate, country, etc.
    • It was a time when Germany still abutted upon Russia.
    His land abuts on the road.
  • To lean against on one end; to end on, of a part of a building or wall.
  • To border upon; be next to; abut on; be adjacent to; to support by an abutment.

    • Usage notes

    * (estate or country) Followed by any of the following words: upon', '''on''' or (obsolete) ' to . * (building) Followed by any of the following words: upon', '''on''', or ' against .

    References

    Anagrams

    * * ----

    attach

    English

    Verb

  • (obsolete, legal) To arrest, seize.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , I.xii:
    • Eftsoones the Gard, which on his state did wait, / Attacht that faitor false, and bound him strait
  • * 1610 , , by (William Shakespeare), act 3 scene 2
    • Old lord, I cannot blame thee, / Who am myself attach'd with weariness / To th' dulling of my spirits: sit down, and rest.
  • * Miss Yonge
    • The earl marshal attached Gloucester for high treason.
  • To fasten, to join to (literally and figuratively).
    • An officer is attached to a certain regiment, company, or ship.
  • * Paley
    • The shoulder blade is attached only to the muscles.
  • * Macaulay
    • a huge stone to which the cable was attached
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Lee S. Langston, magazine=(American Scientist)
    • , title= The Adaptable Gas Turbine , passage=Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo'', meaning ''vortex , and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.}}
  • To adhere; to be attached.
  • * Brougham
    • The great interest which attaches to the mere knowledge of these facts cannot be doubted.
  • To come into legal operation in connection with anything; to vest.
    • Dower will attach .
    (Cooley)
  • To win the heart of; to connect by ties of love or self-interest; to attract; to fasten or bind by moral influence; with to .
    • attached''' to a friend; '''attaching others to us by wealth or flattery
  • * Jane Austen
    • incapable of attaching a sensible man
  • * Cowper
    • God by various ties attaches man to man.
  • To connect, in a figurative sense; to ascribe or attribute; to affix; with to .
    • to attach great importance to a particular circumstance
  • * Bayard Taylor
    • To this treasure a curse is attached .
  • (obsolete) To take, seize, or lay hold of.
    • (Shakespeare)

    Synonyms

    * (to fasten, to join to ) connect, annex, affix, unite

    Antonyms

    * (to fasten, to join to ) detach, unfasten, disengage, separate

    Derived terms

    () * attachable * attachment * attacher * get attached

    Related terms

    () * attachment