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attribute - 6 dictionary results

at⋅trib⋅ute

[v. uh-trib-yoot; n. a-truh-byoot]

verb, -ut⋅ed, -ut⋅ing, noun

Use attribute in a Sentence

–verb (used with object)

1.	to regard as resulting from a specified cause; consider as caused by something indicated (usually fol. by to): 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, esp. 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.

–noun

5.	something attributed as belonging to a person, thing, group, etc.; a quality, character, characteristic, or property: Sensitivity is one of his attributes.

6.	something used as a symbol of a particular person, office, or status: A scepter is one of the attributes of a king.

7.	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.

8.	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.

9.	Philosophy. (in the philosophy of Spinoza) any of the essential qualifications of God, thought and extension being the only ones known. Compare mode ¹ (def. 4b).

10.	Logic. (in a proposition) that which is affirmed or denied concerning the subject.

11.	Obsolete. distinguished character; reputation.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L attribūtus allotted, assigned, imputed to (ptp. of attribuere), equiv. to at- at- + tribū- (s. of tribuere to assign (to tribes), classify, ascribe; see tribe ) + -tus ptp. suffix

Related forms:

at⋅trib⋅ut⋅a⋅ble, adjective

at⋅trib⋅ut⋅er, at⋅trib⋅u⋅tor, noun

Synonyms:
1. 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. 5. See quality.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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at·trib·ute (ə-trĭb'yōōt)

tr.v. at·trib·ut·ed, at·trib·ut·ing, at·trib·utes

To relate to a particular cause or source; ascribe: attributed their failure to a lack of preparation.
To regard as the work of a specified agent, place, or time: attributed the painting to Titian; attributed the vase to 18th-century Japan.

n. at·tri·bute (āt'rə-byōōt')

A quality or characteristic inherent in or ascribed to someone or something.
An object associated with and serving to identify a character, personage, or office: Lightning bolts are an attribute of Zeus.
Grammar A word or phrase syntactically subordinate to another word or phrase that it modifies; for example, my sister's and brown in my sister's brown dog.

[Latin attribuere, attribūt- : ad-, ad- + tribuere, to allot; see tribute.]
at·trib'ut·a·ble adj., at·trib'ut·er, at·trib'u·tor n.

Synonyms: These verbs mean to consider as resulting from or belonging to a person or thing. Attribute and ascribe, often interchangeable, have the widest application: The historian discovered a new symphony attributed to Mozart. The museum displayed an invention ascribed to the 15th century.
Impute is often used in laying guilt or fault to another: "We usually ascribe good; but impute evil" (Samuel Johnson).
Credit frequently applies to an accomplishment or virtue: "Some excellent remarks were made on immortality, but mainly borrowed from and credited to Plato" (Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.)
Assign and refer are often used to classify or categorize: Program music as a genre is usually assigned to the Romantic period. "A person thus prepared will be able to refer any particular history he takes up to its proper place in universal history" (Joseph Priestley). See Also Synonyms at quality.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.

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.

Language Translation for : attribute

Spanish: atribuir,

German: zuschreiben,

Japanese: ～のものとする

More Translations »

attribute (v.)

1398, from L. attributus, pp. of attribuere "assign to," from ad- "to" + tribuere "assign, give, bestow." The noun (c.1400) is from L. attributum "anything attributed," neut. of attributus.

attribute data
A named value or relationship that exists for some or all instances of some entity and is directly associated with that instance.
Examples include the href attribute of an HTML anchor element, the columns of a database table considered as attributes of each row, and the members (properties and methods of an object in OOP. This contrasts with the contents of some kind of container (e.g. an array), which are typically not named. The contents of an associative array, though they might be considered to be named by their key values, are not normally thought of as attributes.
(2001-02-04)

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