ascribe

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ascriven,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French ascrivre (“to inscribe, to attribute”),^[3][5][4] on the stem ascriv- of ascrire,^[6][2][7] from Latin ascrībō (“to write in, add in writing”), also adscrībō,^[6][3][4] formed from ad- (“to”) and scrībō (“to write”),^[6][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *skribh- (“to cut”).^[3] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from the second half of the 12th century.^[8] The present spelling was remodelled on the Latin: Barnhart finds ascriben probably before 1425,^[4] while the OED and Etymonline place the change in the 16th century,^[6][3] and the form in -v- lasted until the late 17th century.^[6][7][4] Because of this, some dictionaries take the modern verb directly from Latin.^{[7][9][10][11]}

Earliest recorded meaning

To attribute or impute: about 1340, in Rolle's translation of the Psalms.^[4] Etymonline has the middle of the 14th century,^[3] and the OED's first quotation is from the Wycliffite Bible of 1382: Lest...to my name the victorie be ascrived.^[6][12][2]

Semantic evolution

In Latin the verb meant first to write in or to enter on a list, and only later, figuratively, to impute.^[3][4] English took the figurative sense first, so the OED points out that the order of its senses does not follow the Latin.^[6] The sense of crediting something to an author or a cause is there in the Middle English record,^[2] and that of considering a quality as belonging to someone is recorded from about 1425.^[6] The more literal uses appear only in the 16th and 17th centuries and did not last: to enrol or reckon in a class (1532–1680), to inscribe or dedicate (from before 1555 to 1563), and to add one's name in writing (1605, 1648).^[6] Johnson (1755) already has only the two living senses: to attribute as to a cause, and as to a possessor.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1340 – ascriven, to attribute, impute.^[4] The OED's first quotation is from 1382.^[6]
• c. 1425 – to reckon as a quality or characteristic of someone.^[6]
• 1432–50 – to reckon up, count (obsolete by 1601).^[6]
• 1532 – to enrol or reckon in a class (obsolete by 1680).^[6]
• before 1555 – to inscribe or dedicate (obsolete by 1563).^[6]
• 1605 – to add one's name to a document (obsolete).^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To attribute something to a supposed cause, source or author: Historians ascribe the fire to a careless baker.^[10][14][6]
2. To regard a quality as belonging to someone or something: Few critics ascribe any humour to his early poems.^[10][6][15]
3. (obsolete) To add in writing; to subscribe.^[14][6]
4. (obsolete) To inscribe or dedicate.^[14][6]

Word family

• ascribable
• unascribed

Related words

• ascription
• ascriptive
• scribe
• inscribe
• subscribe
• scribble

Usage notes

Collins warns that ascribe is sometimes wrongly used where subscribe is meant, as in subscribing to a view.^[10]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
15. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press