ASCRIBE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Ascribe

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/əskrˈaɪb/ Listen

verb

Ascribe v. t. (past & past part. ascribed; pres. part. ascribing)

To attribute, impute, or refer, as to a cause; as, his death was ascribed to a poison; to ascribe an effect to the right cause; to ascribe such a book to such an author. "The finest (speech) that is ascribed to Satan in the whole poem."

To attribute, as a quality, or an appurtenance; to consider or allege to belong.

Synonyms: To Ascribe, Attribute, Impute. Attribute denotes, 1. To refer some quality or attribute to a being; as, to attribute power to God. 2. To refer something to its cause or source; as, to attribute a backward spring to icebergs off the coast. Ascribe is used equally in both these senses, but involves a different image. To impute usually denotes to ascribe something doubtful or wrong, and hence, in general literature, has commonly a bad sense; as, to impute unworthy motives. The theological sense of impute is not here taken into view. "More than good-will to me attribute naught." "Ascribes his gettings to his parts and merit." "And fairly quit him of the imputed blame."

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Etymology of 'Ascribe'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Ascribe" Quotes from Famous Books

... then, that every man possesses indefeasible worth is the basis of public morality, and at the same time the moral principle by which our private relations to our fellow-men are regulated. What does it mean to ascribe indefeasible worth to every man? It means, for instance, that human beings may not be hunted and killed in sport as hunters kill birds or other game; that human beings may not be devoured for food as they ...

— The Essentials of Spirituality • Felix Adler

... of the silk-worm came early into use. The Chinese ascribe its introduction to the wife of one of their emperors, to whom divine honors were subsequently paid. Until the Christian era silk was little known in Europe or Western Asia. It is mentioned but three ...

— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 8, No. 46, August, 1861 • Various

... observer. Each story presented some singularity; on the first floor four tall, narrow windows, close together, were filled as to the lower panes with boards, so as to produce the doubtful light by which a clever salesman can ascribe to his goods the color his customers inquire for. The young man seemed very scornful of this part of the house; his eyes had not yet rested on it. The windows of the second floor, where the Venetian blinds were drawn up, revealing ...

— At the Sign of the Cat and Racket • Honore de Balzac

... fallacy of this retort is transparent. The immediate object of Belief is a proposition which I hold to be true, not a thing apprehended in an act of conception. I believe in an infinite God; i.e., I believe that God is infinite: I believe that the attributes which I ascribe to God exist in Him in an infinite degree. Now, to believe this proposition, I must, of course, be conscious of its meaning; but I am not therefore conscious of the Infinite God as an object of conception; ...

— The Philosophy of the Conditioned • H. L. Mansel

... of heroic size on the new portion of the edifice, with arms uplifted as if in blessing, was the gift of a noble of Brittany. It was brought over in the Seventeenth Century, and for two hundred years has been the patron saint of sailors, who ascribe to it miraculous powers. Its ancient pews, the crutches on the walls, and pictures which are among the first works of art brought to the country, suggest the varied scenes which have taken place around the old sanctuary since its doors were first ...

— Famous Firesides of French Canada • Mary Wilson Alloway

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