ascription

noun

as·​crip·​tion ə-ˈskrip-shən 

1

: the act of ascribing : attribution

2

: arbitrary placement (as at birth) in a particular social status

Examples of ascription in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

His word was pseudepigraphy, the ascription of false names of authors to works. — City News Service, Daily News, 28 May 2026

Today dishonest ascriptions of what biology is are being deployed to restrict women’s bodily autonomy, target LGBTQIA+ individuals broadly and, most recently, attack the rights of transexual and transgender people. — Agustín Fuentes, Scientific American, 1 May 2023

Not actual perfection but the ascription of it to sundry acts of daily life. — Paula Marantz Cohen, WSJ, 16 Sep. 2022

Do people ascribe race to robots and if so, does the ascription of race to robots affect people’s behavior towards them? — IEEE Spectrum, 17 July 2018

Even if its intent were innocuous — to address inaccurate ascriptions to the Polish state for participating in an official capacity in Nazi crimes — the impact of this type of legislation is dangerous. — Steny Hoyer, Time, 15 Mar. 2018

Black women who posit a feminism that exists for a purpose greater than the liberation of a single individual or gender ascription. — Tunde Wey, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Dec. 2017

The implicit and explicit patterns of numerical gender ascription were moderately correlated. — Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 4 Aug. 2017

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin ascription-, ascriptio, from Latin, written addition, from ascribere

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for ascription

• conscription
• decryption
• description
• egyptian
• encryption
• inscription
• prescription
• proscription
• subscription
• transcription
• circumscription
• misdescription

Kids Definition

ascription

noun

as·​crip·​tion ə-ˈskrip-shən 

: the act of ascribing : attribution