ASCRIPTION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ascription mean? 

• ASCRIPTION (noun)
  The noun ASCRIPTION has 2 senses:

1. assigning some quality or character to a person or thing

2. assigning to a cause or source

  Familiarity information: ASCRIPTION used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ASCRIPTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Assigning some quality or character to a person or thing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

ascription; attribution

Context example:

the ascription to me of honors I had not earned

Hypernyms ("ascription" is a kind of...):

categorisation; categorization; classification; sorting (the basic cognitive process of arranging into classes or categories)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ascription"):

zoomorphism (the attribution of animal forms or qualities to a god)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Assigning to a cause or source

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

ascription; attribution

Context example:

he questioned the attribution of the painting to Picasso

Hypernyms ("ascription" is a kind of...):

categorisation; categorization; classification; sorting (the basic cognitive process of arranging into classes or categories)

Attribute:

attributable (capable of being attributed)

unascribable; unattributable (not attributable)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ascription"):

animatism (the attribution of consciousness and personality to natural phenomena such as thunderstorms and earthquakes and to objects such as plants and stones)

imputation (the attribution to a source or cause)

externalisation; externalization (attributing to outside causes)

Derivation:

ascribe (attribute or credit to)