Attribute

How to spell attribute

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce attribute

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does attribute mean?

1. verbTo regard something as being caused by or belonging to a particular person or thing.
2. nounA quality or feature regarded as a characteristic or inherent part of someone or something.

Attribute in a sentence

• verb

  The historians attribute the painting to a little-known Flemish master.

• noun

  Patience is the most valuable attribute in a good negotiator.

• verb

  Analysts attribute the sudden rise in sales to the new advertising campaign.

• noun

  Durability is the key attribute buyers look for in work boots.

Where does attribute come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin attribuere, which meant 'to assign to' or 'to allot', formed from the prefix ad- 'to, toward' (reduced to at- before the t) and the verb tribuere 'to assign, grant or allot'. That verb tribuere itself grew out of tribus, the word for one of the original 'tribes' of Rome, since allotments and duties were once apportioned among those tribal divisions; the same root gives us 'tribute' and 'contribute'. English took attribute in during the late 1300s, first as a verb meaning to assign a quality or a cause to something, and the noun sense, an inherent quality belonging to a person or thing, followed soon after. The spelling keeps the doubled t at the junction of ad- and tribuere, which is the small trap: writers must remember the at- prefix sits in front of the -tribute that they already know.

How the word is built

• at- (from ad-: to, toward)
• tribute (from tribuere: to assign, allot)