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to ascribe

to ascribe

35 6.8
Think that something is caused by a person or thing
  • verb
  • /əˈskraɪb/
translation icon : atribuir a
  • Researchers ascribe the recent decline in wildlife populations to habitat loss.
  • ascribe importance to
  • ascribe meaning to
  • ascribe a role to

Freud took this idea way too far, ascribing deep meaning to everything.

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Examples

  • - So, Miss Ellroy, viewers are dying to know, to what do you ascribe your meteoric rise in the film world?

  • To his credit, he did not ascribe all African accomplishments to the Western presence.

    Academic text (1991)
  • And it's easy to kind of ascribe your own meaning to it.

  • OK, So this means that that potential is a real quality that you can ascribe to an object.

  • The power we ascribe to it, it's based on damage.

  • The problems of the poor can always be ascribed to either the environment or personal factors.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Anna developed itchy skin, which their doctor ascribed to a lack of proper sleep.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Whatever callow motives I ascribed to you, I came to believe that you were right.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Caleb suspected that his own failure in life could be ascribed to his inexperience.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The teacher would often ascribe great importance to homework assignments.

Synonyms

to attribute
vsto ascribe
228 3.8

To say that something comes from a person or thing

is used in more formal or literary contexts
to assign
vsto ascribe
47 3.2

Say that a person or cause made something

focuses on regarding origin or cause rather than physically giving
to impute
vsto ascribe
  • Formal
11 8.7

To blame a person or thing for something bad, often without proof

is neutral about cause and ownership not about blame
to put down to
vsto ascribe
6 4.8

To say that something happened because of a particular reason

is broader covering belonging or production as well as causes

How Certain

to prove
3.1
to ascribe
35 6.8
to suggest
1.6

Surface Forms

ascribe infinitive
ascribed past
ascribed past participle
ascribing present participle
ascribes third person singular

Morphology

ascribe = scribe (opaque) = a + scribe

Although the form suggests 'a-' + 'scribe', the modern meaning 'attribute to' is not directly inferable from the base meaning 'write'.

Etymology

Ascribe comes from Latin parts ad- 'to' and scribere 'to write', and it shares the same root as scribe and script. Think of writing someone's name on an object to show who made it, so to ascribe something is to say it comes from or is caused by a particular person or source.