attribute
To say that something is caused by a particular factor.
ExampleResearchers attribute the decline to changes in ocean temperature.
ExampleThe passage attributes the species' success to its flexible diet.
Usage Scenarios
Cause in a reading passage
Recognize attribute when the author connects an effect to a specific factor.
ExampleThe author attributes the population increase to a warmer climate.
Source of an idea or discovery
Notice whether the passage attributes a theory, painting, invention, or result to a person or group.
ExampleThe discovery was attributed to a team of graduate researchers.
Usage Guide
Recognize attribute when a TOEFL passage explains what caused a change or where a claim, feature, or effect comes from. It often appears in research summaries and historical explanations.
The key pattern is attribute something to something: attribute the decline to temperature, attribute the discovery to a researcher, or attribute success to adaptation.
Do not read attribute as prove. The verb reports a claimed cause or source; the passage may later support, question, or revise that attribution.
Word Forms & Word Building
Attribute is built from ad- plus a root related to assigning or granting, so the word-building idea is assigning a cause or source to something.
Attribution is formed with the noun suffix -ion and means the act of assigning cause, authorship, or source.
Attributable is formed with the adjective suffix -able in phrases like attributable to climate change.
Meaning Boundaries
Attribute vs cause
Cause directly names what produces an effect. Attribute means assign or explain the effect as coming from that cause.
Attribute vs derive
Derive focuses on origin or source. Attribute focuses on assigning responsibility, cause, or authorship.
Register
Attribute is formal and common in TOEFL reading, research discussion, art history, archaeology, and cause-effect explanations.
Memory Tricks
Think cause arrow: effect attributed to cause. The phrase to carries the explanation.
Memorize attribute X to Y because TOEFL passages often test which factor is responsible.
When reading, separate the observed result from the factor the author attributes it to.
Common Traps
Do not forget the preposition to after attribute in the cause pattern.
Do not assume an attribution is certain if the passage presents it as disputed.
Do not confuse the verb attribute with the noun attribute, which means a quality or feature.