ascribed; ascribing

transitive verb

: to refer to a supposed cause, source, or author : to say or think that (something) is caused by, comes from, or is associated with a particular person or thing
These poems are usually ascribed to Homer.
They ascribe most of their success to good timing and good luck.
She ascribes no importance to having a lot of money.
Choose the Right Synonym for ascribe

ascribe, attribute, assign, impute, credit mean to lay something to the account of a person or thing.

ascribe suggests an inferring or conjecturing of cause, quality, authorship.

forged paintings formerly ascribed to masters

attribute suggests less tentativeness than ascribe, less definiteness than assign.

attributed to Rembrandt but possibly done by an associate

assign implies ascribing with certainty or after deliberation.

assigned the bones to the Cretaceous period

impute suggests ascribing something that brings discredit by way of accusation or blame.

tried to impute sinister motives to my actions

credit implies ascribing a thing or especially an action to a person or other thing as its agent, source, or explanation.

credited his teammates for his success

Examples of ascribe in a Sentence

ascribed their stunning military victory to good intelligence beforehand
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
This is Rasoulof showing us in visceral terms what likely happened to Amini herself, whose death authorities ascribed to a stroke while in hospital. Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 27 Nov. 2024 The trauma is ascribed to the violation of the tender feelings of those terribly frightened by Trump’s victory, and nowhere is the concern more salient than in higher education. Richard E. Vatz, Baltimore Sun, 14 Nov. 2024 First, the tendency to ascribe intelligence and free will to machines, and second, the assumption that computer output is always more accurate than human output. Luis E. Romero, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2024 Yet none of the genomes showed more than one percent European ancestry, a fraction low enough to be ascribed to a spurious statistical fluke. John Timmer, Ars Technica, 11 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for ascribe 

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin ascribere, from ad- + scribere to write — more at scribe

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of ascribe was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near ascribe

Cite this Entry

“Ascribe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ascribe. Accessed 18 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

ascribed; ascribing
: to think of as coming from a specified cause, source, or author
a statement ascribed to Plato

More from Merriam-Webster on ascribe

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