Attribute

/ˈætrɪˌbjuːt/

Meaning & Definition

noun

A quality or feature regarded as a characteristic or inherent part of someone or something.

Patience is an important attribute for a teacher to possess.

A material or abstract property of an object in programming and data structures.

In the database, each user record has several attributes, including name, age, and email.

verb

To regard something as being caused by (someone or something).

She attributed her success to hard work and perseverance.

To assign a quality or characteristic to someone or something.

The artist is attributed with a unique style that revolutionized modern painting.

From Latin 'attributus', past participle of 'attribuere', meaning to assign or to attribute.

attribute to

To regard something as being caused by a particular person or thing.

a key attribute

An important quality or feature of someone or something.

attribute something to someone

To say that someone is responsible for something.

characteristic

A distinguishing quality or trait.

trait

A distinguishing characteristic or quality, especially of one's personal nature.

feature

A distinctive attribute or aspect of something.

To credit or assign something to someone in a casual way.

People often attribute his skills to years of practice.

In a humorous context, saying a characteristic is 'native' to a person.

He attributes his clumsiness to being 'naturally graceful'.