Attaché is a French word, meaning a person who is assigned ('attached') to the administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Depending on custom, 'attaché' may be modified to correspond to the gender (e. g. 'attachée') or number (e. g. 'attachés'), as in French.
The most common use of the term is as a diplomatic rank, never employed (not even on a temporary basis) as mission chief, but under the authority of the Ambassador or other head of the diplomatic mission and often has special responsibilities or expertise, often specified by that field, such as: cultural attaché, press attaché, labor attaché, military/defense attaché (or more specific, e. The system of diplomatic rank has over time been formalised on an international basis An ambassador is the highest ranking Diplomat who represents their country A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one State or an international Inter-governmental organization (such as the United Nations) present in A cultural attaché is a diplomat with special responsibility for promoting the culture of his or her homeland A military attaché is a Military Expert who is part of a Diplomatic mission; this post is normally filled by a high-ranking officer g. naval attaché, air attaché), agricultural attaché and science attaché. An air attaché is an Air force officer who is part of a Diplomatic mission; this post is normally filled by a high-ranking officer A science attaché (also known as a scientific attaché or a technical attaché) is a member of a Diplomatic mission, usually an Embassy. In this usage, the original connotation was that the attaché was an officer (employee) of another service 'attached to,' for example, a diplomatic mission: e. g. the attaché retains a military commission despite being assigned to serve in an Embassy.
However the title is also used in other hierarchical administrations, e. g. :
- in the Roman Curia. The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Roman Catholic Church, together with the Pope
- in the ministries of the Belgian federal state, since 2005 replacing the term adjunct-adviseur (in Dutch) or conseiller-adjoint (in French), normally used for college graduates, one rank under the head of a competence section.
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