attribute
    n 1: a construct whereby objects or individuals can be
         distinguished; "self-confidence is not an endearing
         property" [syn: property, attribute, dimension]
    2: an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of an entity
    v 1: attribute or credit to; "We attributed this quotation to
         Shakespeare"; "People impute great cleverness to cats"
         [syn: impute, ascribe, assign, attribute]
    2: decide as to where something belongs in a scheme; "The
       biologist assigned the mushroom to the proper class" [syn:
       assign, attribute]

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.
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            But mercy is above this sceptered away; . . .
            It is an attribute to God himself.    --Shak.
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   2. Reputation. [Poetic]                        --Shak.
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   3. (Paint. & Sculp.) A conventional symbol of office,
      character, or identity, added to any particular figure;
      as, a club is the attribute of Hercules.
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   4. (Gram.) Quality, etc., denoted by an attributive; an
      attributive adjunct or adjective.
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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).
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         We attribute nothing to God that hath any repugnancy or
         contradiction in it.                     --Abp.
                                                  Tillotson.
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         The merit of service is seldom attributed to the true
         and exact performer.                     --Shak.
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   Syn: See Ascribe.
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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)