attributing
Giving credit to
Attributing is assigning a cause, origin, or creator to something.
You attribute a quotation to its source, attribute a painting to Rembrandt, or attribute your success to hard work: She attributed her recovery to the new medication.
The word often implies judgment rather than certainty—scholars may attribute an unsigned work to an artist based on style alone.
Recognition or payment deferral
- blameAssign responsibility for wrongdoing
- responsibilityState of being answerable
- authorshipOrigin of written work
- ownershipLegal right of possession
acknowledgment · recognition · ascription · imputation · designation · citation · crediting · sourcing
What produces an effect
- effectResult of a cause
- reasonBasis or justification
- consequenceResult of an action
- factorContributor to result
source · origin · trigger · determinant · motivation · root · antecedent · explanation
Distinguishing features or qualities
- traitsDistinguishing personal features
- propertiesQualities or owned assets
- featuresDistinctive qualities or aspects
- aspectsDistinct elements or sides
significance · meaning · value · importance · intention · motive · symbolism · purpose
Concluding from evidence
- surmisingInferring without certainty
- speculatingGuessing without certainty
- conjecturingInferring without proof
- presumingTaking for granted
postulating · theorizing · extrapolating · interpreting · assuming · supposing · guessing · hypothesizing
credit
Recognition or payment deferral
- blameAssign responsibility for wrongdoing
- responsibilityState of being answerable
- authorshipOrigin of written work
ownership · acknowledgment · recognition · ascription · imputation · designation · citation · crediting · sourcing · accreditation
cause
What produces an effect
- effectResult of a cause
- reasonBasis or justification
- consequenceResult of an action
factor · source · origin · trigger · determinant · motivation · root · antecedent · explanation · correlation
characteristics
Distinguishing features or qualities
- traitsDistinguishing personal features
- propertiesQualities or owned assets
- featuresDistinctive qualities or aspects
aspects · significance · meaning · value · importance · intention · motive · symbolism · purpose · sentiment
deducing
Concluding from evidence
- surmisingInferring without certainty
- speculatingGuessing without certainty
- conjecturingInferring without proof
presuming · postulating · theorizing · extrapolating · interpreting · assuming · supposing · guessing · hypothesizing · concluding
- acknowledgingthanking, admitting, crediting, accepting, confirming
- assigningassigning, allocating, appointing, crediting, delegating
- referringciting, mentioning, alluding, indicating, quoting
- acknowledgmentsacknowledgment, acknowledgement, acknowledgments, acknowledgment, dedications
- journalismreporters, interview, editors, student editors, school paper
- distributingdistributing, dispensing, allocating, apportioning, doling out
attributingclaiming
Declaring to be true
appropriating · taking credit · plagiarizing · misappropriating · arrogating
attributingdisavowing
Refusing to claim
denying · dissociating · disclaiming · disowning · obscuring
- false attributionWrongly assigned origin
- attribution theoryHow we explain behavior
- without attribution