MEANING
To attribute a cause, quality, or work to someone or something.
Use it for
causal interpretation; attribution of authorship; explanations of successState the source of an explanation without implying proof.
Words that belong together
- ascribe importance to
- ascribe the change to
- ascribe a work to
On the page
The historian ascribes the policy shift to pressure from local merchants.
Critics once ascribed the anonymous poem to a court official.
We should not ascribe every difference in attainment to family income.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- ascribe / ascribes
- Past tense
- ascribed
- Past participle
- ascribed
- Present participle
- ascribing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- ascribe / ascribes
- Present continuous
- am/is/are ascribing
- Present perfect
- have/has ascribed
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been ascribing
- Past
- ascribed
- Past continuous
- was/were ascribing
- Past perfect
- had ascribed
- Past perfect continuous
- had been ascribing
- Future
- will ascribe / ascribes
- Future continuous
- will be ascribing
- Future perfect
- will have ascribed
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been ascribing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: academic. Use ascribe X to Y. The attribution can be uncertain; do not let the verb make a causal claim look established. Unlike impute, it need not suggest blame. Verb inflections [base, third-person singular, past, past participle, -ing]: ascribe, ascribes, ascribed, ascribed, ascribing. Derived family (not inflections): ascription.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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