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

Some attribute the recent emphasis on protein intake to the rise of GLP-1 medications, which often decrease appetite and make it challenging to eat enough protein to preserve lean muscle mass during weight loss.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

Many analysts attribute that drop to Amazon.com’s Prime Day sales event, which the company held in June this year instead of July.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Scientists currently attribute that acceleration to dark energy, a phenomenon whose underlying nature remains poorly understood.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

Sri Lanka's health authorities attribute the surge in dengue infections to a cyclone that tore through the island last December, scattering debris that have turned into new breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

Some natural scientists attribute this collapse, close in time to that of Wari and Tiwanaku, to a massive drought.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

She said her inbox has been inundated with more queries than ever, which she attributes to writers using LLMs to mass-spam agents, and has received submissions that seemed clearly AI-generated.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

He attributes the success of the festival to its "totally inclusive" nature and its sole focus on "the celebration of music and culture and dance and song".

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

Although under a somewhat faded exterior, Pacoima Middle School has flashy technology and other attributes, including expanded academic offerings, rising test scores, a robotics lab, a room of new fitness equipment and added garden space.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Those attributes also explain why Liverpool are not actively looking to move him on.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

We contextualize, filter, draw conclusions, and make inferences, in part, based on someone’s physical attributes.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

But Xu attributed his success to education -- and the Communist Party.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

The brewer attributed the updated outlook to synergies from its Britvic acquisition and tight cost controls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

Much like Stokes, Root was happy to post plenty of fielders in catching positions, though that can be attributed to the match situation.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

For the 2025 calendar year, 20,685 deaths were attributed across the nation to COVID-19 on death certificates, according to the CDC.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

The present war might be attributed to Mordred, or to himself.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

While Netflix does not offer a free service, the streaming giant in October 2022 began offering a lower-priced ad-supported option, later attributing the offering with a boost in subscription counts.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

Some experts warn that attributing too much to AI could give tech companies a loophole to avoid responsibility and liability.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 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

Otis had praised Pollard in print since his initial condemnation of his ride in the Santa Anita Handicap, even suggesting that he may have been wrong in attributing the loss to the jockey.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Related Words

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