attenir

A rare, mostly dialectal or literary verb meaning to be adjacent to or bordering something (a field, a property) — largely replaced in standard modern French by the adjective attenant (à) or by être contigu à.

• Le pré attenait à la rivière. — The meadow was adjacent to the river.
• Sa maison attenait à l'ancienne ferme. — His house was adjacent to the old farmhouse.
• Ces deux terrains s'attiennent depuis toujours. — These two plots have always bordered each other.

This verb is rare enough in modern French that most speakers use the adjective attenant à (adjoining) instead of ever conjugating attenir — a learner will encounter the adjective far more often than the verb.