verb (used with object), as·cribed, as·crib·ing. to credit or assign, as to a cause or source; attribute; impute: The alphabet is usually ascribed to the Phoenicians.
to attribute or think of as belonging, as a quality or characteristic: They ascribed courage to me for something I did out of sheer panic.
Origin of ascribe 1400–50; late Middle English <
Latin ascrībere, equivalent to
a- a-5 +
scrībere to
scribe2 ; replacing
Middle English ascrive <
Middle French. See
shrive Related forms a·scrib·a·ble , adjective un·as·cribed , adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for ascribe Contemporary Examples of ascribe Different boycotters will ascribe different meanings to the same act.
Yet neither expressed any interest in the legend that so many people want to ascribe to the man.
To the contrary, they ascribe to the belief that more guns on campus, in the hands of the right people, will make them safer.
All they have to do is attribute or ascribe as much income as possible to foreign subsidiaries.
What drives the human impulse to ascribe divine meaning to tragic events?
Historical Examples of ascribe That is, theoretically we may ascribe them to God, but practically we dissociate Him from them.
Nothing but our own pinchbeck ideas could ascribe to Him this pettiness.
To ascribe them specially to God would seem to us far-fetched.
The mitigation of that horror they condemn, resent, and often ascribe to the devil.
I would not ascribe to nature what is merely the outcome of my own moral views.
British Dictionary definitions for ascribe verb (tr) to credit or assign, as to a particular origin or period to ascribe parts of a play to Shakespeare
to attribute as a quality; consider as belonging to to ascribe beauty to youth
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Derived Forms ascribable , adjective Word Origin for ascribe C15: from Latin ascrībere to enrol, from ad in addition + scrībere to write
usage Ascribe is sometimes wrongly used where subscribe is meant: I do not subscribe (not ascribe ) to this view
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for ascribe v. mid-14c., ascrive , from Old French ascrivre "to inscribe; attribute, impute," from Latin ascribere "to write in, to add to in a writing," from ad- "to" (see ad- ) + scribere "to write" (see script (n.)). Spelling restored by 16c. Related: Ascribed ; ascribing .
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
