From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishascribe something to somebody/something phrasal verb written1 CAUSEto claim that something is caused by a particular person, situation etc The report ascribes the rise in childhood asthma to the increase in pollution.2 to claim that something has been written, said, made etc by a particular person a quotation that’s often been ascribed to Marilyn Monroe3 BELIEVEto believe that something or someone has a particular quality Local people ascribe healing properties to this fruit. —ascribable adjective Most of the accidents were ascribable to the bad weather. → ascribe→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
ascribe to • It tends to be interpreted as ascribing consciousness to any organism that has irritability.• But to ascribe this to male chauvinism wouldn't be accurate either.• There seems no particular reason to ascribe economic rationality to one group and not the other.• Among the Volunteers, the tendency was to ascribe their difficulties to personality deficiencies in the field staff.• While the outbreak directed media attention to pollution in the North Sea, ascribing the guilt to pollution was premature.• Sammler mastered and dismissed this suspicion, ascribing it to surprise and nervousness.• We could ascribe these setbacks to the fact that our regime is young, or make other excuses.• Once computer interfaces are built to show lifelike properties, many people will ascribe life to them. 