attachment

The word “attachment” means a file sent along with an email or message. In plain terms, a connection — whether it's a file on an email, an emotional bond, or a physical add-on part.

“Attachment” is pronounced uh-TACH-muhnt (/əˈtæt͡ʃmənt/ in IPA).

Here is “attachment” used in a sentence: “The invoice came through as a PDF attachment.”

“Attachment” is a noun.

The word “attachment” comes from French. From French attachement, built from attach plus the noun-forming suffix -ment.

“Attachment” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Attachment” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a file sent along with an email or message.

An "attachment" is a file, such as a document or image, sent within the email itself, while a "link" is a web address that points to content stored somewhere else. Attachments travel with the message, whereas links send the reader elsewhere to view the content.

"Attachment" is a lasting emotional bond that grows through closeness and familiarity, while "attraction" is an initial pull toward someone or something. Attachment tends to deepen over time, whereas attraction is often immediate.

Both describe emotional connection, but "attachment" often stresses fondness or dependence directed toward someone or something, while a "bond" suggests a mutual, two-way link. You can feel attachment to an object, but a bond is normally shared between people.

You feel an "attachment to" a person, place, or thing. In email, a file is sent "as an attachment," and in the equipment sense you use an "attachment for" a tool, such as an attachment for a drill.