attribution

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English attribucion,^[2] borrowed from Middle French attribution^[3][4][5][6] and directly borrowed from Latin attribūtiō (“assignment, allotment”),^[2][7][6] the noun of action from attribūtus, the past participle of attribuō (“to assign, allot; to ascribe, impute”).^[7][6][3] The Latin verb is formed from ad- (“to”) and tribuō (“to assign, give, bestow”), the source of tribute.^[7] Merriam-Webster notes that the Latin noun meant in particular the assignment of a debt of money.^[3] The OED records the French word from the 14th century.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of bestowing or assigning something: 1467, in a document of J. Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester.^[5][2] Etymonline dates the word to the late 15th century,^[7] and Dictionary.com to 1425–75.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, the actual bestowal of something, is now archaic or obsolete.^[5][8] From 1649 the word was used for ascribing something in words, and after 1651 also for assigning a quality or character to a thing as properly its own.^[5] By the 1660s it meant ascribing an effect to a cause, or a work to its author, date or place, a use that became especially common in art criticism.^[5] In the late 16th century it could also mean the thing attributed:^[7] Puttenham (1589) used it in rhetoric for the giving of epithets, and Shakespeare (1598) for the credit or honour given to someone,^[5] a use Johnson (1755) defined as "commendation", quoting the same passage of Henry IV.^[9] In logic it has meant the predication of an attribute since 1860,^[5][8] and since 1796, after modern French, it has also meant the authority or function granted to a ruler, minister or court.^[5]

Timeline

• 1467 – the action of bestowing or assigning.^[5][2]
• 1589 – in rhetoric, the giving of epithets; an attributive word (both obsolete).^[5]
• 1598 – something ascribed to a person, such as a name, credit or quality (obsolete by 1741).^[5]
• 1649 – ascription in words, and self-attribution, taking credit to oneself.^[5]
• 1651 – the ascribing of a quality to a thing.^[5][10]
• before 1665 – the ascribing of an effect to a cause, or of a work to its author, date or place.^[5]
• 1796 – authority or function granted to a ruler, minister or court.^[5]
• 1860 – in logic, the predication of an attribute.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of ascribing something to a person or thing as its cause, source or owner: the attribution of the flood to a burst pipe.^[3][5][10]
2. The assigning of a work of art or literature to a particular author, artist, date or place: The attribution of the drawing to Dürer is now doubted.^[3][10][5]
3. A quality, character or right that is ascribed to someone or something.^[10]
4. (logic) The predication of an attribute to its subject.^[5][3][8]
5. (psychology) The process by which people interpret behaviour and events and form judgements about their causes.^[3]
6. (law) In United States tax law, the assigning of a person's or company's stock ownership to a related family member or entity.^[11]
7. (archaic) The act of bestowing or assigning something.^[5][3][8]

Word family

• attributional
• deattribution
• misattribution

Related words

• reattribution
• attribute
• tribute

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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West