From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishattribute something to somebody/something phrasal verb1 CAUSEto believe or say that a situation or event is caused by something The fall in the number of deaths from heart disease is generally attributed to improvements in diet.2 CHARACTER OF somethingCHARACTER/PERSONALITYif people in general attribute a particular statement, painting, piece of music etc to someone, they believe that person said it, painted it etc a saying usually attributed to Confucius3 CHARACTER OF somethingCHARACTER/PERSONALITYto believe or say that someone or something has a particular quality One should not attribute human motives to animals. —attribution /ˌætrəˈbjuːʃən/ noun [uncountable] → attribute→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
attribute to • The authors attribute the structure to a major basement fault.• We do not attribute reality to all the objects of our apparent perception.• And I shan't be making the mistake of attributing it to any charms of mine, either.• The new attributes apply to characters subsequently printed to the screen.• It should become a key in attributing other work to his hand.• And he was right in attributing importance to ideas as opposed to the simple influence of pecuniary vested intereSt.• The actual phenomenon these qualitative attributes refer to is, as we have witnessed, contested.• The least valued attribute may come to the rescue on some fateful day when that very quality is required. 