| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| ascribe |
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| SYLLABICATION: | as·cribe |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   -skr b |
| TRANSITIVE VERB: | Inflected forms: as·cribed, as·crib·ing, as·cribes
1. To attribute to a specified cause, source, or origin: “Other people ascribe his exclusion from the canon to an unsubtle form of racism” (Daniel Pinchbeck, New York Times Magazine November 5, 1995). See synonyms at attribute. 2. To assign as a quality or characteristic: was quick to ascribe jealousy to her critics. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English ascriben, from Old French ascrivre, from Latin ascrbere : ad-, ad- + scrbere, to write; see skrbh- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | a·scriba·ble —ADJECTIVE
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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