Attribute means something rather similar to "pay tribute". So, for example, an award winner who pays tribute to an inspiring professor is, in a sense, attributing her success to the professor. …

To regard (a work, for example) as belonging to or produced by a specified agent, place, or time: attributed the painting to Titian; attributed the vase to 18th-century Japan.

to consider as a quality or characteristic of the person, thing, group, etc., indicated. He attributed intelligence to his colleagues. to consider as made by the one indicated, especially with strong …

attribute sth to sb This idea has long been attributed to Keynes, but in fact he was not the first to think of it.

If a piece of writing, a work of art, or a remark is attributed to someone, people say that they wrote it, created it, or said it.

to consider that something is the result of something else: She attributes his bad temper to ill health. to believe that a person or thing has a certain quality or characteristic: It is a mistake to …

Definition of attribute verb from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary. attribute something to something to say or believe that something is the result of a particular thing She attributes her …