c. 1400, "arrest of a person on judicial warrant" (mid-13c. in Anglo-Latin), from Anglo-French attachement, from Old French attacher "to attach" (see attach). Application to property (including, later, wages) dates from 1590s; meaning "sympathy, devotion" is recorded from 1704; that of "something that is attached to something else" dates from 1797 and has become very common since the rise of e-mail.
