ascribe
/əˈskrʌɪb
/verb [with object] (ascribe something to)
1Regard something as being due to (a cause): he ascribed Jane’s short temper to her upset stomach...
- The substantial increase in the navy in this period is ascribed to him.
- Any half-wit, by the simple device of ascribing his delusions to revelation, takes on an authority that is denied to all the rest of us.
- Have you noticed how each of us is guilty of ascribing motives to other people's actions, yet so often get it wrong?
Synonyms
attribute, assign, put down, set down, accredit, credit, give the credit for, chalk up, impute;
lay on, pin on, blame on, lay at the door of;
connect with, associate with
1.1Regard a text, quotation, or work of art as being produced by or belonging to (a particular person or period): a quotation ascribed to Thomas Cooper
1.2Regard a quality as belonging to: tough-mindedness is a quality commonly ascribed to top bosses...
- I still think that mischievous, but not nearly as vile as ascribing messianic qualities to a single man.
- There is no foundation for ascribing an energetic quality to a crystal simply because it has a particular appearance, colour or name.
- The author, unfortunately, often ascribes human qualities to viruses, whereas he knows that survival depends on a high rate of replication and mutation to provide candidates to fit the challenge of the ever changing environment.
Derivatives
ascribable
/ adjective ...- Legislators make speeches, attend committee meetings, cast votes and leave a paper trail of positions taken and poses struck, mostly without consequences clearly ascribable to them as individuals.
- The problem with trouser suits is that despite their democratic appeal, they lack the universal qualities ascribable to men's tailoring.
- The similar level of satisfaction in our two study groups may be ascribable to this difference, as the family doctors may have compensated for any shortcomings related to the junior physicians' inexperience.
Origin
Middle English: from Latin ascribere, from ad- 'to' + scribere 'write'.
Rhymes
- value-ladenness
- valueless
- valuelessness
- value-loaded
- value-neutral
- value orientation
- value-oriented
- value pluralism
- value proposition
- valuer
- value received
- valuer general
- values-oriented
- value stock
- value system
- value theory
- valuta
- valvate
- valve
- valved
- valve gear
- valve head
- valveless
- valvular
- valvule