attribué

Attribué is the past participle of the French verb attribuer, which means to assign, to attribute, or to award. The term derives from Latin attribuere, from ad- “to” and tribuere “to grant, allot.” In contemporary French, attribué can function as a participle in compound tenses or as an adjective meaning “ascribed” or “belonging to through attribution.”

Usage and meanings include the sense of awarding or allocating something, and the sense of crediting authorship or origin. For example: “La commission a attribué les tâches à chacun” (the tasks were assigned to everyone) or “Il a attribué ce prix à Marie” (he awarded this prize to Marie). In passive constructions or when used with the auxiliary être, the form agrees in gender and number: “Le prix a été attribué à Marie” or “La décision a été attribuée à son auteur.”

Attribué is also widely used with the preposition à to indicate the recipient or the source of attribution, as in “cette œuvre est attribuée à Rembrandt” (this work is attributed to Rembrandt). In this sense, it often appears in discussions of authorship, provenance, or credit.

Grammatical notes: with the auxiliary avoir, the participle generally does not agree with a preceding direct object, but agreement can occur in other constructions. With être in a passive sense, or when the subject is the thing being attributed, the participle agrees with the subject (attribué, attribuée, attribués, attribuées). As an adjective, attribué changes form to match the noun it describes: “droits attribués,” “valeur attribuée,” etc.