Definition of ascribe
ascribed
;ascribing
transitive verb
: to refer to a supposed cause, source, or author : to say or think that (something) is caused by, comes from, or is associated with a particular person or thing These poems are usually ascribed to Homer. They ascribe most of their success to good timing and good luck. She ascribes no importance to having a lot of money.
From the M-W Editors
Examples of ascribe in a Sentence
ascribed their stunning military victory to good intelligence beforehand
Recent Examples of ascribe from the Web
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But the salaries ascribe a certain value to the actors within the industry, especially in an era when the business side of entertainment is much more visible.
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The U.N. has ascribed responsibility to Assad’s government for three previous attacks during Syria’s six-year civil war.
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Allen was accused of 12 non-fatal shootings between October 2011 and May 2013, in addition to the three murders ascribed to him by prosecutors.
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Frequently, this type of therapy ascribes homosexuality to childhood traumas or neglect caused by parents or others.
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Police ascribed motives ranging from an employment dispute to a disgruntled suitor spurned by a woman, as well as simply blaming mental illness.
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Many people have lamented the way in which ascribing bad motives to political rivals makes good governance impossible.
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The authors ascribe most of the problems to a combination of their detection hardware and thermal crosstalk among the photonic devices.
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As is so often true of notable quotables that Americans ascribe to people from faraway lands, there is no actual evidence that this was ever a Chinese proverb.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ascribe.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of ascribe
Middle English, from Latin ascribere, from ad- + scribere to write — more at scribe
Synonym Discussion of ascribe
ASCRIBE Defined for Kids
ascribe
playDefinition of ascribe for Students
ascribed
;ascribing
: to think of as coming from a specified cause, source, or author They ascribed his success to nothing more than good luck.
Learn More about ascribe
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for ascribe Spanish Central: Translation of ascribe Nglish: Translation of ascribe for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of ascribe for Arabic speakers
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