ascribe
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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.
verb
-
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
Usage
Ascribe is sometimes wrongly used where subscribe is meant: I do not subscribe (not ascribe ) to this view
Synonym Usage
See attribute.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ascribesimple
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ascribessimple
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have ascribedperfect
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has ascribedperfect
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am ascribingprogressive
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are ascribingprogressive
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is ascribingprogressive
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have been ascribingperfect progressive
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has been ascribingperfect progressive
Past
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ascribedsimple
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had ascribedperfect
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was ascribingprogressive
-
were ascribingprogressive
-
had been ascribingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ascribe
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin ascrībere, equivalent to a- a- 5 + scrībere to scribe 2; replacing Middle English ascrive < Middle French. See shrive
Explanation
Ascribe means to give credit to, like if you ascribe the A you got on your group project to the hard work of your partners! Ascribe's Latin root is ascribere, meaning basically "to write in.'' Makes sense, because ascribe is often used to link writers to their words. Many a quirky quote, like "Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter," is ascribed to that famous scribe Mark Twain. It can also be a way of blaming something — you might ascribe your bad attitude to your mom because she won't let you have cupcakes for dinner.
Vocabulary lists containing ascribe
The Write Stuff: Scrib, Script
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"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards
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Jane Eyre
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“With uncertainty regarding the supply picture looking ahead, we speculate investors may be less willing to ascribe a higher multiple even in light of an improved demand backdrop,” analysts wrote.
From Barron's ● Apr. 17, 2026
Like everyone I spoke to, Tim and Star ascribe Minneapolis’ successful mobilization to lessons learned during that time.
From Slate ● Feb. 11, 2026
And while a cursory examination of the film might ascribe that attribute to the public’s taste for poorly made, mid-tier trash, that conclusion would be wholly incorrect.
From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2026
“We would ascribe that to data which reinforces the probability the Fed will cut rates in December, but was not so bad that you worry the economy is slowing precipitously,” he said via phone.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 3, 2025
If one likes, one could ascribe this randomness to the intervention of God, but it would be a very strange kind of intervention: there is no evidence that it is directed toward any purpose.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
Today, MS ascribes no value to Resolution in its base case for either company, Anand says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026
Papic ascribes a 60% probability to the conflict ending in approximately two weeks.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 16, 2026
What is important is that he is able to convince fanatic followers of the sacred mission he ascribes to himself as well as to them.
From Salon ● Dec. 7, 2023
"It bears noting that the court has never taken the position the defence ascribes to it: that former 'President Trump should be prosecuted and imprisoned,'" Judge Chutkan wrote.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2023
Dr. Sachau ascribes it to the fifth, or the beginning of the sixth century, thus making it older than the Vatican Tetraevangelicum, No. 3, in Miller's Scrivener, II.
From The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels by Burgon, John William
With this in mind, we ascribed a third of agility to Glassdoor’s rating of a company’s culture and values.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
Liberty ascribed NV Energy’s decision to new “market circumstances” in the latter’s home service region.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
"I observed what appeared to be a fairly bright light source which we tentatively ascribed to a possible laser," he said.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
He thinks Citrini Research should have ascribed probabilities to all their scenarios to make them more valuable.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 5, 2026
He may have ascribed too much free will to his mentor.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
“But tonight, Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett made it great again by ascribing to me an incident involving Ilya Shapiro.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
Wall Street is essentially ascribing the majority of future GLP-1/obesity market share to a duopoly—Lilly and Novo, notwithstanding competition.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2025
As to what Downey is ascribing to his native land, Murphy can do nothing but laugh.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2024
Although Barrett strays away from ascribing universal meaning to dreams and encourages dreamers to interpret their dreams for themselves, Salon asked her to unpack what’s going on with five commonly reported nightmares.
From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2023
I tell you what, Mose, this sure is somebody’s kind of truth, but I wouldn’t be ascribing it to God.”
From "Mississippi Trial, 1955" by Chris Crowe
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
