Access vs Attain - What's the difference?
access | attain |
(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
* {{quote-news, year=2011
, date=September 20
, author=Graeme Paton
, title=University access plan 'will fail', says Russell Group
, work=Telegraph
(uncountable) Admission to sexual intercourse.
* 1760s , (William Blackstone),
(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)
(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.
To gain or obtain access to.
(computing) To have access to (data).
To accomplish; to achieve.
To get at the knowledge of; to ascertain.
* Fuller
To reach or come to, by progression or motion; to arrive at.
* Milton
* Bible, Psalms cxxxix. 6
To come or arrive, by motion, growth, bodily exertion, or efforts toward a place, object, state, etc.; to reach.
* Bible, Acts xxvii. 12
* Sir Walter Scott
* Cowper
* J. R. Green
To reach in excellence or degree; to equal.
(obsolete) To overtake.
In lang=en terms the difference between access and attain
is that access is to gain or obtain access to while attain is to come or arrive, by motion, growth, bodily exertion, or efforts toward a place, object, state, etc; to reach.As verbs the difference between access and attain
is that access is to gain or obtain access to while attain is to accomplish; to achieve.As a noun access
is (uncountable) a way or means of approaching or entering; an entrance; a passage.access
English
Etymology 1
* First attested in the early 14th century. * (entrance) First attested about 1380. * From (etyl), from (etyl) .Noun
- I did repel his fetters, and denied His access to me. - Shakespeare, Hamlet, II-i
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.}}
- During coverture, access of the husband shall be presumed, unless the contrary be shown.
- 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
Derived terms
* direct access * random access * remote accessEtymology 2
* First attested in 1962.Verb
(es)- I can't access most of the data on the computer without a password.
References
* * *Statistics
*attain
English
Verb
(en verb)- To attain such a high level of proficiency requires hours of practice each day.
- not well attaining his meaning
- Canaan he now attains .
- Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I can not attain unto it.
- if by any means they might attain to Phenice
- Nor nearer might the dogs attain .
- to see your trees attain to the dignity of timber
- Few boroughs had as yet attained to power such as this.
- (Francis Bacon)