n(1)属(本，特)性，品质(quality，either good or bad，regarded as part of the nature of sb/sth)[C]：His best/greatest～is his kindness.他最优秀/杰出的品质是善良。Patience/Politeness/Generosity/Sensitivity/Honesty/Intelligence is one of the most important～s in a teacher.耐心/礼貌/慷慨/敏感/诚实/有才智是老师最重要的品质之一。possess all the～s of a scientist 具有科学家所有的品质;sb's physical～s 某人身体上的特征;Language is an～of human beings.语言是人类所特有的。Darkness is an～of night.黑暗是夜晚的特点。〖同〗characteristic，quality，virtue，aspect，feature，character;

(2)象征(object regarded as a symbol or sign of a person or his position)[C]：The sword is an～of the fighter.剑是斗士的象征。The sceptre is an～of the kingly power.权杖是王权的象征。

vt(1)把……归因(咎)于(think of sth as resulting from)[T+n+prep(to)]：～one's success to a person/sb's encouragement/one's energy/hard work/working hard/how hard one has worked 把成功归功于一个人/某人的鼓励/自己精力旺盛/艰苦工作/工作努力/已付出的努力;～one's good health to careful living/better life 认为身体好是因为生活精心/生活较富裕;～sb's illness to the cold weather/sb's death to heart attacks/sb's poor comprehension to a lack of intelligence 把某人的病归咎于天气寒冷/死归咎于心脏病发作/理解力差归咎于智力差;～the car accident to faulty brakes/the poor harvest to the heavy rain/lack of progress to poor co-operation 把车祸归咎于车闸有问题/歉收归咎于那场大雨/进展慢归咎于合作不好;No fault can be～d to him.不能把任何过错都归咎于他。〖同〗credit;

(2)认为……有(consider as a quality or characteristic)[T+n+prep(to)]：～intelligence to ants/human feelings to animals/great cunning to enemies 认为蚂蚁有智力/动物有人类的情感/敌人奸诈;

(3)认为……为某人所写(作)(think of sth as being written or produced by sb)[T+n+prep(to)，常pass](fml)：The play is usually～d to Shakespeare.这剧本通常认为是莎士比亚所作。The tune is usually～d to Bach.这曲子通常认为是巴赫所作。The painting is usually～d to Picasso.这画通常认为是毕加索所作。

←′tribute n 献礼，颂辞;贡(品);

→ at′tributable adj 可归功于……的;͵attri′bution n 归因(咎，属);属性;at′tributive adj 定语的;属性的;

【辨异】attribute与quality和property都指特殊的性质。quality(性质，品质)指天生的或习得的特性，这种特性决定人或事物的本性或举止，如：have many good qualities(有许多好品质);attribute原来指通常属于人或拟人化事物的性质，近来指本质的或天生的特性，如：attributes of a logical mind(逻辑思维能力强者的品质);property (特性，属性)仅指事物的特性，这种特性取决于事物的构成，如：physical properties of uranium(铀元素的物理特性)。