Adjacent Words

Attribute definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ATTRIB'UTE, v.t. [L. attribuo; ad and tribuo, to divide, to bestow, to assign; tribus, a tribe, division or ward. See Tribe.]
1. To allot or attach, in contemplation; to ascribe; to consider as belonging.
We attribute nothing to God, that contains a contradiction.
2. To give as due; to yield as an act of the mind; as, to attribute to God all the glory of redemption.
3. To impute, as to a cause; as, our misfortunes are generally to be attributed to our follies or imprudence.
AT'TRIBUTE, n.
1. That which is attributed; that which is considered as belonging to, or inherent in; as, power and wisdom are attributes of the Supreme Being; or a quality determining something to be after a certain manner; as, extension is an attribute of body.
2. Quality; characteristic disposition; as bravery and generosity in men.
3. A thing belonging to another; an appendant; as the arms of a warrior. In painting and sculpture, a symbol of office or character, added to the principal figure; as a club is the attribute of Hercules.
4. Reputation; honor.
[Not a proper sense of this word.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished; "self-confidence is not an endearing property" [syn: property, attribute, dimension]
2: an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of an entity v
1: attribute or credit to; "We attributed this quotation to Shakespeare"; "People impute great cleverness to cats" [syn: impute, ascribe, assign, attribute]
2: decide as to where something belongs in a scheme; "The biologist assigned the mushroom to the proper class" [syn: assign, attribute]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Latin attributus, past participle of attribuere to attribute, from ad- + tribuere to bestow — more at tribute Date: 14th century 1. an inherent characteristic; also an accidental quality 2. an object closely associated with or belonging to a specific person, thing, or office <a scepter is the attribute of power>; especially such an object used for identification in painting or sculpture 3. a word ascribing a quality; especially adjective Synonyms: see quality II. transitive verb (-uted; -uting) Date: 1530 1. to explain by indicating a cause <attributed his success to his coach> 2. a. to regard as a characteristic of a person or thing b. to reckon as made or originated in an indicated fashion <attributed the invention to a Russian> c. classify, designate Synonyms: see ascribe • attributable adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. (usu. foll. by to) 1 regard as belonging or appropriate to (a poem attributed to Shakespeare). 2 ascribe to; regard as the effect of a stated cause (the delays were attributed to the heavy traffic). --n. 1 a a quality ascribed to a person or thing. b a characteristic quality. 2 a material object recognized as appropriate to a person, office, or status (a large car is an attribute of seniority). 3 Gram. an attributive adjective or noun. Derivatives: attributable adj. attribution n. Etymology: ME f. L attribuere attribut- (as AD-, tribuere assign): (n.) f. OF attribut or L attributum

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Attribute At*trib"ute ([a^]t"tr[i^]*b[=u]t), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Attributed; p. pr. & vb. n. Attributing.] [L. attributus, p. p. of attribuere; ad + tribuere to bestow. See Tribute.] To ascribe; to consider (something) as due or appropriate (to); to refer, as an effect to a cause; to impute; to assign; to consider as belonging (to). We attribute nothing to God that hath any repugnancy or contradiction in it. --Abp. Tillotson. The merit of service is seldom attributed to the true and exact performer. --Shak. Syn: See Ascribe.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Attribute At"tri*bute, n. [L. attributum.] 1. That which is attributed; a quality which is considered as belonging to, or inherent in, a person or thing; an essential or necessary property or characteristic. But mercy is above this sceptered away; . . . It is an attribute to God himself. --Shak. 2. Reputation. [Poetic] --Shak. 3. (Paint. & Sculp.) A conventional symbol of office, character, or identity, added to any particular figure; as, a club is the attribute of Hercules. 4. (Gram.) Quality, etc., denoted by an attributive; an attributive adjunct or adjective.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(attributed) 1. If you attribute something to an event or situation, you think that it was caused by that event or situation. Women tend to attribute their success to external causes such as luck. = ascribe VERB: V n to n 2. If you attribute a particular quality or feature to someone or something, you think that they have got it. People were beginning to attribute superhuman qualities to him. = ascribe VERB: V n to n 3. If a piece of writing, a work of art, or a remark is attributed to someone, people say that they wrote it, created it, or said it. This, and the remaining frescoes, are not attributed to Giotto. VERB: usu passive, be V-ed to n 4. An attribute is a quality or feature that someone or something has. Cruelty is a normal attribute of human behaviour... = characteristic N-COUNT: usu with supp

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. Ascribe, assign, refer, impute, consider as due. II. n. 1. Quality, property, characteristic, peculiarity, mark, note, predicate. 2. (Fine Arts.) Symbol, characteristic symbol, concomitant sign, attendant designating figure or object.

Moby Thesaurus

IC analysis, account for, accredit, accredit with, accrete to, acknowledge, affection, apply, apply to, appositive, aroma, ascribe, ascribe to, assign, assign to, attach, attach to, attribute to, attributive, badge, blame, blame for, blame on, brand, bring home to, cachet, calendar, cast, character, characteristic, charge, charge on, charge to, chronologize, complement, confess, configuration, connect with, construction modifier, credit, credit with, cut, cutting, date, deep structure, differentia, differential, direct object, distinctive feature, earmark, emblem, fasten upon, father upon, feature, figure, filler, fix on, fix upon, flavor, form-function unit, function, give, gust, hallmark, hang on, idiocrasy, idiosyncrasy, immediate constituent analysis, impress, impression, impute, impute to, index, indirect object, individualism, keynote, lay, lay to, levels, lineaments, mannerism, mark, marking, modifier, mold, nature, object, odor, particularity, peculiarity, phrase structure, pin on, pinpoint, place, place upon, point to, predicate, property, put, qualifier, quality, quirk, ranks, refer, refer to, saddle on, saddle with, savor, seal, set down to, settle upon, shallow structure, shape, singularity, slot, slot and filler, smack, specialty, stamp, strata, structure, subject, surface structure, syntactic analysis, syntactic structure, syntactics, syntax, tagmeme, taint, tang, taste, token, trace to, trait, trick, underlying structure, virtue, word arrangement, word order