impute

im·pute

verb \im-ˈpyüt\

im·put·edim·put·ing

Definition of IMPUTE

transitive verb

1

: to lay the responsibility or blame for often falsely or unjustly

2

: to credit to a person or a cause : attribute <our vices as well as our virtues have been imputed to bodily derangement — B. N. Cardozo>

— im·put·abil·i·ty \-ˌpyü-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē\ noun

— im·put·able \-ˈpyü-tə-bəl\ adjective

Examples of IMPUTE

1. <people often impute his silence to unfriendliness and not to the shyness it really represents>

Origin of IMPUTE

Middle English, from Anglo-French imputer, from Latin imputare, from in- + putare to consider

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to IMPUTE

Synonyms: accredit, ascribe, attribute, chalk up, credit, lay, put down

Related Words: blame, charge, father (on), impute (to), pin (on); assign, refer; associate, attach, connect, link

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See Synonym Discussion at ascribe

Rhymes with IMPUTE

acute, astute, Asyût, bear fruit, beetroot, Beirut, birthroot, bloodroot, breadfruit, butut, cahoot, Canute, catsuit, cheroot, choucroute, clubroot, commute, compute, confute, crapshoot, cube root, deaf-mute, depute, dilute, dispute, dry suit, elute, en route, enroot, flight suit, folkmoot, freeboot, galoot, grapefruit, G suit, hardboot, hip boot, hirsute, imbrute, jackboot, jackfruit, jumpsuit, kashruth, lawsuit, long suit, lounge suit, minute, nonsuit, offshoot, outshoot, Paiute, pantsuit, permute, playsuit, pollute, pursuit, recruit, refute, repute, salute, sans doute, seaboot, snowsuit, solute, square root, star fruit, star route, statute, strong suit, sunsuit, sweat suit, swimsuit, take root, taproot, to boot, tracksuit, trade route, transmute, tribute, uproot, volute, wet suit