attribute

American  

[uh-trib-yoot, a-truh-byoot] / əˈtrɪb jut, ˈæ trəˌbjut /

verb (used with object)

attributes, present (3rd person singular) attributed, past participle, past attributing present participle

1. to regard as resulting from a specified cause; consider as caused by something indicated (usually followed byto ).

   She attributed his bad temper to ill health.

2. to consider as a quality or characteristic of the person, thing, group, etc., indicated.

   He attributed intelligence to his colleagues.

3. to consider as made by the one indicated, especially with strong evidence but in the absence of conclusive proof.

   to attribute a painting to an artist.

4. to regard as produced by or originating in the time, period, place, etc., indicated; credit; assign.

   to attribute a work to a particular period; to attribute a discovery to a particular country.

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noun

attributes plural

1. something attributed as belonging to a person, thing, group, etc.; a quality, character, characteristic, or property.

   Sensitivity is one of his attributes.

2. something used as a symbol of a particular person, office, or status.

   A scepter is one of the attributes of a king.

3. Grammar. a word or phrase that is syntactically subordinate to another and serves to limit, identify, particularize, describe, or supplement the meaning of the form with which it is in construction. In the red house, red is an attribute of house.

4. Fine Arts. an object associated with or symbolic of a character, office, or quality, as the keys of St. Peter or the lion skin of Hercules.

5. Philosophy. (in the philosophy of Spinoza) any of the essential qualifications of God, thought and extension being the only ones known.

6. Logic. (in a proposition) that which is affirmed or denied concerning the subject.

7. Obsolete. distinguished character; reputation.

attribute British  

/ ˌætrɪˈbjuːʃən /

verb

1. to regard as belonging (to), produced (by), or resulting (from); ascribe (to)

   to attribute a painting to Picasso

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noun

1. a property, quality, or feature belonging to or representative of a person or thing

2. an object accepted as belonging to a particular office or position

3. grammar

   1. an adjective or adjectival phrase

   2. an attributive adjective

4. logic the property, quality, or feature that is affirmed or denied concerning the subject of a proposition

Synonym Usage

Attribute, ascribe, impute imply definite origin. Attribute and ascribe are often used interchangeably, to imply that something originates with a definite person or from a definite cause. Ascribe, however, has neutral implications; whereas, possibly because of an association with tribute, attribute is coming to have a complimentary connotation: to ascribe an accident to carelessness; to attribute one's success to a friend's encouragement. Impute has gained uncomplimentary connotations, and usually means to accuse or blame someone or something as a cause or origin: to impute an error to him. See quality.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• attributer
  noun
• attribution
  noun
• attributor
  noun
• misattribute
  verb
• reattribute
  verb (used with object)
• attributable
  adjective
• unattributed
  adjective
• well-attributed
  adjective
• unattributably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• attributes
  plural

Participles

• attributing
  present
• attributed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• attribute
  simple
• attributes
  simple
• have attributed
  perfect
• has attributed
  perfect
• am attributing
  progressive
• are attributing
  progressive
• is attributing
  progressive
• have been attributing
  perfect progressive
• has been attributing
  perfect progressive

Past

• attributed
  simple
• had attributed
  perfect
• was attributing
  progressive
• were attributing
  progressive
• had been attributing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will attribute
  simple
• will have attributed
  perfect
• will be attributing
  progressive
• will have been attributing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of attribute

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin attribūtus “allotted, assigned, imputed to” (past participle of attribuere ), equivalent to at- “toward” + tribū- (stem of tribuere “to assign (to tribes), classify, ascribe”; see at-, tribe) + -tus past participle suffix

Explanation

An attribute is a quality or characteristic given to a person, group, or some other thing. Your best attribute might be your willingness to help others, like when you stopped traffic so the duck family could cross the street. Attribute comes from the Latin verb attribuere, which is made up the prefix ad, meaning "to," and tribuere meaning "give or bestow." As a verb, to attribute is to give credit, like if you attribute the A on your test to all that hard studying. In Greek and Roman mythology an attribute will often stand in for a character such as Zeus's lightning bolt or Poseidon's trident.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

attribute attributes attributed attributing

Metal mining is energy-intensive, and conventional estimates for its carbon footprint attribute most of its emissions to heavy equipment on-site, as well as diesel transport required to haul ore away.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

According to the report, scientists can now attribute particular extreme, heat, and rainfall events with a high degree of confidence to man-caused climate change, and wildfires, droughts and tropical cyclones with moderate confidence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

"I suppose people attribute the more coercive and economically less helpful policies to Xi personally but associate more positive elements, such as technological advances, to China more broadly."

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

“When you hear CEOs talk about layoffs and they attribute it to AI, I would be skeptical,” Kharazian said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026

They attribute the cyclical nature of racial progress to the “unstable equilibrium” that characterizes the United States’ racial order.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Salata attributes the PE momentum in Japan to a “mindset shift in Japanese corporate boardrooms, almost like a changing of the guard.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

He attributes much of their success to the relative scarcity of cheap capital compared to the U.S.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

The actor CCH Pounder, Saar’s longtime friend and travel companion, attributes Saar’s ability to manage three children, a home, multiple paying jobs and an artistic practice of her own to a form of “mother wit.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

Voters, he said, don’t dissect candidates’ identities and attributes the way political professionals do.

From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026

And finally, the relationship between an organism’s physical or mental attributes and heredity was much more complex than anticipated.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Strategy attributed the loss to a meaningful decline in the price of bitcoin alongside muted sentiment and market skepticism.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

He attributed his optimism to a guarantee that the new talks would pick up where the previous round left off and of greater EU involvement.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

Weakness in SK Hynix shares can be attributed to excessive leverage by retail investors, fears of Chinese competition and a failure to live up to aggressive expectations but some analysts remain bullish.,

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

Among those wounded, 417 are attributed to Operation Epic Fury, while 207 are attributed to "Overseas Operations".

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

When the decisive vote came in April, Madison attributed his defeat to “the exertions and influence of Aristocracy, Anglicism, and mercantilism” led by “the Banks, the British Merchts., the insurance Comps.”

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

“The money lies in the RBIs,” Kent said while attributing that quote to Lasorda during his speech.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

“I’m not attributing who said what. It’s for my general knowledge.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

After heat-related deaths reached a peak of 645 in 2023, they declined to 405 in 2025 - with many experts attributing part of the decline to the policy changes.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

In San Francisco, pending sales of luxury homes rose nearly 46% year over year, Redfin said, attributing the increase to the boom in artificial intelligence.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026

He had a habit of attributing all of Bunny’s faults indirectly to her—his laziness, his bad humors, his lapses of taste.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Related Words

• aspect
• characteristic
• facet
• idiosyncrasy
• peculiarity
• quality
• quirk
• trait
• virtue