A legal judgment that stripped a person of all their civil rights and property, historically used as punishment for treason or felony.
From Old French 'ataindre' (to touch, affect, or condemn). The word entered English legal vocabulary in medieval times and refers to a complete destruction of legal status. The 'taint' in 'attaint' is related.
Attainder was so severe that it didn't just punish the criminal—it destroyed their family's inheritance and social status for generations, which is why the U.S. Constitution specifically forbids it, making this medieval punishment one of the few things that gets called out by name in the Constitution.
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