ascribo

Ascribo is a Latin verb meaning to inscribe or write onto a surface, to enroll or enlist in a list, and to attribute or assign something to a person or source. It is a member of the third conjugation and appears in classical Latin as ascribo, ascribere, ascripsi, ascriptum. The principal parts identify its stems and perfect forms: ascribo (present), ascribere (infinitive), ascripsi (perfect), ascriptum (supine). The present active indicative forms are ascribo, ascribes, ascribit, ascribimus, ascribitis, ascribunt; the imperfect uses ascribebam, ascribebas, ascribebat, ascribebamus, ascribebatis, ascribebant, and the perfect uses ascripsi, ascripsisti, ascripsit, ascripsimus, ascripsistis, ascripserunt. The supine is ascriptum and the perfect passive participle is ascriptus, used in compound tenses with sum.

Uses and senses: The literal sense covers inscribing or writing on a material surface. Figuratively, it covers enrolling someone in a register or list and attributing a work, action, or origin to a person or source. In practice, ascribo can govern a direct object for the thing written and often a dative or prepositional phrase to indicate the person to whom something is attributed (for example, “librum auctori ascribit” = he ascribes the book to the author).

Etymology and influence: The form derives from scribo (to write) with the prefix as-, conveying “put onto” or “assign." In English, the verb ascribe is directly descended from ascribo.

See also: scribo, inscribo, ascription.