🏷️ Assigning new source 🧠 Changing beliefs

reattribution

1 8.9

Saying that a work comes from a different artist or author

noun
/ˌriːəˈtrɪbjuːʃən/

: reatribución

The reattribution of the painting to a lesser-known artist changed how critics viewed the entire collection.

Examples

One might dismiss both claims as typically unreliable were it not for the fact that, accepting its reattribution to Il Sodoma, there actually was a painting in the Aldobrandini collection that may well have been the item in question.

Academic text (2012)
Reattribution of the research findings to their original source helped clarify the claims made in the study.
The professor discussed the reattribution of historical events to better understand their true impact.

Surface Forms

reattribution singular

reattributions plural

Morphology

reattribution = reattribute (transparent) = re + attribute + ion

This is a regular action noun formed from the verb 'reattribute' with '-ion'.

Etymology

Reattribution comes from re- 'again' and attribute 'to give or assign', so it literally means 'assigning again'. That's why we use it when a work, like a painting or quote, is given to a different artist or author after new evidence.