4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Attribute  \At*trib"ute\  ([a^]t"tr[i^]*b[=u]t),  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p. 
  p.  {Attributed};  p.  pr  &  vb  n.  {Attributing}.]  [L. 
  attributus  p.  p.  of  attribuere  ad  +  tribuere  to  bestow.  See 
  {Tribute}.] 
  To  ascribe;  to  consider  something  as  due  or  appropriate 
  (to);  to  refer,  as  an  effect  to  a  cause  to  impute;  to 
  assign;  to  consider  as  belonging  (to). 
 
  We  attribute  nothing  to  God  that  hath  any  repugnancy  or 
  contradiction  in  it  --Abp. 
  Tillotson 
 
  The  merit  of  service  is  seldom  attributed  to  the  true 
  and  exact  performer.  --Shak. 
 
  Syn:  See  {Ascribe}. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Attribute  \At"tri*bute\,  n.  [L.  attributum.] 
  1.  That  which  is  attributed;  a  quality  which  is  considered  as 
  belonging  to  or  inherent  in  a  person  or  thing  an 
  essential  or  necessary  property  or  characteristic. 
 
  But  mercy  is  above  this  sceptered  away  .  .  .  It  is 
  an  attribute  to  God  himself.  --Shak. 
 
  2.  Reputation.  [Poetic]  --Shak. 
 
  3.  (Paint.  &  Sculp.)  A  conventional  symbol  of  office, 
  character,  or  identity,  added  to  any  particular  figure; 
  as  a  club  is  the  attribute  of  Hercules. 
 
  4.  (Gram.)  Quality,  etc.,  denoted  by  an  attributive;  an 
  attributive  adjunct  or  adjective. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  attribute 
  n  1:  a  construct  whereby  objects  or  individuals  can  be 
  distinguished;  "self-confidence  is  not  an  endearing 
  property"  [syn:  {property},  {dimension}] 
  2:  an  abstraction  belonging  to  or  characteristic  of  an  entity 
  v  :  attribute  to  a  source  or  cause  "We  attributed  this 
  quotation  to  Shakespeare"  [syn:  {impute},  {ascribe},  {assign}] 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  attribute 
 
    A  named  value  or  relationship  that  exists  for  some  or 
  all  {instances}  of  some  {entity}  and  is  directly  associated 
  with  that  instance. 
 
  Examples  include  the  {href}  attribute  of  an  {HTML}  {anchor} 
  element,  the  columns  of  a  database  table  considered  as 
  attributes  of  each  row,  and  the  {members}  ({properties}  and 
  {methods}  of  an  {object}  in  {OOP}.  This  contrasts  with  the 
  contents  of  some  kind  of  container  (e.g.  an  array),  which  are 
  typically  not  named  The  contents  of  an  {associative  array}, 
  though  they  might  be  considered  to  be  named  by  their  key 
  values,  are  not  normally  thought  of  as  attributes. 
 
  (2001-02-04) 
 
 

browse words by letter
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
or search   thesauri dictionary search words