attribute
/ˈætɹəbˌjuːt/A-truh-byoot
/ˈætɹəbˌjut/A-truh-byoot
Meaningto assign to
Common meaning: to credit to a cause
Other meanings: a quality
- atto, towards (form of ad-)
- tribto assign, grantLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1897 · scan
- utepast-participle ending (Latin -utus)
‘to, towards (form of ad-)’ + ‘to assign, grant’ → attribute
Journey through time
- Latintribuō, tribuī, tribūtum‘to assign, grant’
- Englishattribute‘to credit to a cause’ · today
at- also in: attemptattenuateattrition
trib also in: tributecontributedistribute
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin tribuō ‘to assign, grant’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry tribuō, p. 1897 · dictionary scan; Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry TRIBUTE, p. 660 · dictionary scan
Roots
- tribuō, tribuī, tribūtum Latin “to assign, grant”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app