attribute
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to say that a particular person wrote something or that a specific cause made something happen.
v.to ascribe a work, remark, or event to a particular author, cause, or source. Transitive; typically takes the preposition 'to'.
Simple“The museum experts attribute the unsigned painting to a famous Italian artist.”
In context“Climate scientists attribute the recent increase in extreme weather events to the long-term warming of the oceans.”
UsageThe verb is usually followed by an object and the preposition 'to'.
- 02 C1 Advanced
n.a quality or characteristic that someone or something has.
n.a quality or feature regarded as a characteristic or inherent part of someone or something.
Simple“Patience is an essential attribute for anyone working as a primary school teacher.”
In context“The candidate's most impressive attribute is her ability to remain calm and analytical under intense public scrutiny.”
Teacher's tipRemind students that the noun is stressed on the first syllable (AT-tri-bute), unlike the verb.
Synonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
n.a piece of information that describes a file or a part of a computer program.
n.a specification that defines a property of an object, element, or file in computing and markup languages.
Simple“You can change the file attribute to 'read-only' so that nobody can edit it.”
In context“The developer added a new attribute to the HTML tag to ensure the image would scale correctly on mobile devices.”
- 04 C2 Proficiency
n.a word, like an adjective, that describes a noun.
n.a word or phrase that modifies a noun, typically placed immediately before or after it.
Simple“In the phrase 'the red car', the word 'red' is an attribute of the car.”
In context“The linguist analysed how the poet used cumulative attributes to build a vivid sense of place without using a single main verb.”
Usage attribute to · directly attribute · largely attribute
“The proportion reached a record 44.4% in the second quarter, with IIAC attributing the increase largely to growing numbers of visitors from China and Japan, according to local media.”
“Attributing redundancies to AI, he adds, can make restructuring appear like technological progress rather than a response to market conditions.”
From Latin attributus.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.