attributable

Etymology

It is formed from English attribute + -able.^[2][3] The verb attribute comes from Latin attribūtus, the past participle of attribuō (“to assign, allot; ascribe, impute”), formed from ad (“to”) and tribuō (“to assign, give, bestow”).^[3] Johnson (1755) derived the adjective directly from the Latin verb.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Capable of being attributed or ascribed, especially as owing to or produced by something: first recorded in 1661, in J. Glanvill's Vanity of Dogmatizing.^[2] The OED's first edition dated it to 1665,^[5] and Etymonline dates it to the 1660s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed the same since the 17th century.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "that which may be ascribed or attributed; ascribable; imputable", quoting Hale's Origin of Mankind.^[4]

Timeline

• 1661 – capable of being attributed or ascribed.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Capable of being attributed or ascribed to something, especially as its cause: The delay was attributable to the storm.^[6][2][4]

Word family

• nonattributable
• unattributable

Related words

• attribute
• attribution
• tribute
• contribute
• distribute

Usage notes

It is always followed by to.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
5. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster