attaint
/əˈteɪnt/
noun
- A historical legal process that declared a person's civil rights forfeited, often after a death sentence or outlawry.
- The punishment of attaint meant the person's property was seized by the crown.
- Historians study the use of attaint to understand how medieval law treated serious offenders.
- In medieval England, a writ of attaint could be issued against a convicted criminal.
verb
- To subject someone to the legal process of attainder, depriving them of civil rights and property.
- The law allowed the court to attaint anyone found guilty of high treason.
- Parliament passed a bill to attaint the rebel leaders after the uprising.
- The king could attaint a traitor, leaving his family destitute.
Synonyms