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Attach vs Access - What's the difference?

attach | access |

In lang=en terms the difference between attach and access

is that attach is to adhere; to be attached while access is to gain or obtain access to.

As verbs the difference between attach and access

is that attach is (obsolete|legal) to arrest, seize while access is to gain or obtain access to.

As a noun access is

(uncountable) a way or means of approaching or entering; an entrance; a passage.

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

    access

    English

    Etymology 1

    * First attested in the early 14th century. * (entrance) First attested about 1380. * From (etyl), from (etyl) .

    Noun

  • (uncountable) A way or means of approaching or entering; an entrance; a passage.
  • * All access was thronged. - Milton
  • (uncountable) The act of approaching or entering; an advance.
  • (uncountable) The right or ability of approaching or entering; admittance; admission; accessibility.
  • (uncountable) The quality of being easy to approach or enter.
  • * c. 1600 , (William Shakespeare), Act 2 Scene 1
    • I did repel his fetters, and denied His access to me. - Shakespeare, Hamlet, II-i
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011
    • , date=September 20 , author=Graeme Paton , title=University access plan 'will fail', says Russell Group , work=Telegraph citation , page= , passage=Coalition plans to widen access to university will fail to get to the 'root cause' of the problem, according to the Russell Group.}}
  • (uncountable) Admission to sexual intercourse.
  • * 1760s , (William Blackstone),
    • During coverture, access of the husband shall be presumed, unless the contrary be shown.
  • (countable) An increase by addition; accession; as, an access of territory.
  • * I, from the influence of thy looks, receive access in every virtue. - Milton
  • (countable) An onset, attack, or fit of disease; an ague fit.
  • * The first access looked like an apoplexy. - Burnet
  • (countable) An outburst of an emotion; a paroxysm; a fit of passion; as, an access of fury.
  • * 1946 , Arnold J. Toynbee, A Study of History (Abridgement of Volumes I-VI by D.C. Somervell)
    • It appears that, about the middle of the fourth century of the Christian Era, the Germans in the Roman service started the new practice of retaining their native names; and this change of etiquette, which seems to have been abrupt, points to a sudden access of self-confidence and self-assurance in the souls of the barbarian personnel which had previously been content to 'go Roman' without reservations.
    Usage note: sometimes confused with excess
  • (uncountable, legal) The right of a non-custodial parent to visit their child.
  • (uncountable, computing) The process of locating data in memory.
  • (uncountable, Internet) Connection to or communication with a computer program or to the Internet.
    • Derived terms
    * direct access * random access * remote access
    Related terms
    * accede * accessary * accessible * accessibility * accessibly * accession * accessory

    Etymology 2

    * First attested in 1962.

    Verb

    (es)
  • To gain or obtain access to.
  • (computing) To have access to (data).
    • I can't access most of the data on the computer without a password.

    References

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    Statistics

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