transitive verb (past and past participleat·trib·ut·ed, present participleat·trib·ut·ing, 3rd person present singularat·trib·utes)
Definition:
1. ascribe cause to something: to think of something as caused by a particular circumstance To what do you attribute your success?
2. credit somebody with something: to give credit for something such as a work of art or a saying to a particular person, often wrongly It's a bon mot that is often wrongly attributed to Saki.
3. assign qualities to somebody or something: to regard somebody or something as having particular qualities the wisdom that she attributes to her favorite writers
noun (pluralat·trib·utes)
Definition:
quality or property: a quality, property, or characteristic of somebody or something
[14th century. Directly or via French< Latin attribut-, past participle of attribuere "allot to" < tribuere (see tribute)]
