Adjacent Words

Contribute definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CONTRIBUTE, v.t. [L., to grant, assign, or impart. See Tribe, Tribute.]
1. To give or grant in common with others; to give a common stock or for a common purpose; to pay a share.
England contributes much more than any other of the allies.
It is the duty of Christians to contribute a portion of their substance for the propagation of the gospel.
2. To impart a portion or share to a common purpose.
Let each man contribute his influence to correct public morals.
CONTRIBUTE, v.i. To give a part; to lend a portion of power, aid or influence; to have a share in any act or effect.
There is not a single beauty in the piece, to which the invention must not contribute.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: bestow a quality on; "Her presence lends a certain cachet to the company"; "The music added a lot to the play"; "She brings a special atmosphere to our meetings"; "This adds a light note to the program" [syn: lend, impart, bestow, contribute, add, bring]
2: contribute to some cause; "I gave at the office" [syn: contribute, give, chip in, kick in]
3: be conducive to; "The use of computers in the classroom lead to better writing" [syn: contribute, lead, conduce]
4: provide; "The city has to put up half the required amount" [syn: put up, contribute]

Merriam Webster's

verb (-uted; -uting) Etymology: Latin contributus, past participle of contribuere, from com- + tribuere to grant — more at tribute Date: 1530 transitive verb 1. to give or supply in common with others <contribute money to a cause> 2. to supply (as an article) for a publication intransitive verb 1. a. to give a part to a common fund or store <contribute to a fund-raising campaign> b. to play a significant part in bringing about an end or result <many players have contributed to the team's success> 2. to submit articles to a publication • contributor noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

disp. v. (often foll. by to) 1 tr. give (money, an idea, help, etc.) towards a common purpose (contributed £5 to the fund). 2 intr. help to bring about a result etc. (contributed to their downfall). 3 tr. (also absol.) supply (an article etc.) for publication with others in a journal etc. Derivatives: contributive adj. Etymology: L contribuere contribut- (as COM-, tribuere bestow)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Contribute Con*trib"ute, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Contributed; p. pr. & vb. n. Contributing.] [L. contributus, p. p. of contribuere to bring together, to add; con- + tribuere to grant, impart. See Tribute.] To give or grant i common with others; to give to a common stock or for a common purpose; to furnish or suply in part; to give (money or other aid) for a specified object; as, to contribute food or fuel for the poor. England contributes much more than any other of the allies. --Addison.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Contribute Con*trib"ute, v. i. 1. To give a part to a common stock; to lend assistance or aid, or give something, to a common purpose; to have a share in any act or effect. We are engaged in war; the secretary of state calls upon the colonies to contribute. --Burke. 2. To give or use one's power or influence for any object; to assist. These men also contributed to obstruct the progress of wisdom. --Goldsmith.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(contributes, contributing, contributed) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If you contribute to something, you say or do things to help to make it successful. The three sons also contribute to the family business... He believes he has something to contribute to a discussion concerning the uprising. VERB: V to n, V n to n, also V 2. To contribute money or resources to something means to give money or resources to help pay for something or to help achieve a particular purpose. The US is contributing $4 billion in loans, credits and grants... NATO officials agreed to contribute troops and equipment to such an operation if the UN Security Council asked for it. = donate VERB: V n, V n to/towards n, also V • contributor (contributors) ...the largest net contributors to EU funds. N-COUNT 3. If something contributes to an event or situation, it is one of the causes of it. The report says design faults in both the vessels contributed to the tragedy... Stress, both human and mechanical, may also be a contributing factor. VERB: V to n, V-ing 4. If you contribute to a magazine, newspaper, or book, you write things that are published in it. I was asked to contribute to a newspaper article making predictions for the new year... Frank Deford is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine. VERB: V to n, V-ing • contributor (contributors) Reporter Alan Nearn covers Central America and is a regular contributor to The New Yorker. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Give (in common with others), grant or bestow (as a share). 2. Furnish, supply, afford. II. v. n. Conduce, minister, conspire, co-operate, concur, bear a part, be helpful.

Moby Thesaurus

accommodate, add to, advance, afford, aid, assist, augment, be enfranchised, be implicated in, bear a hand, bend to, bestow, bias, chip in, clothe, come through, compare, conduce, contribute to, dispose, donate, donate to, endow, enter into, fill, fill up, find, fortify, forward, fund, furnish, gift, gift with, give, give to, go, go into, grant, have a tendency, have suffrage, head, help, help decide, incline, invest, join, join in, keep, kick in, lead, lean, look to, maintain, make available, make provision for, make the scene, partake, partake of, participate, participate in, pitch in, pledge, point, point to, prepare, present, promote, provide, provide for, pull an oar, recruit, redound to, reinforce, replenish, serve, set, set toward, show a tendency, sit in, sit in on, stock, store, strengthen, subscribe, subsidize, supplement, supply, support, sweeten the kitty, take part in, tend, trend, turn, verge, vote, warp, work toward, yield