mid-14c., ascrive, "attribute, impute, credit" (something to someone), from Old French ascrivre "to inscribe; attribute, impute," from Latin ascribere "to write in, enter in a list; add to in a writing," figuratively "impute, attribute," from ad "to" (see ad-) + scribere "to write" (from PIE root *skribh- "to cut"). English spelling was conformed to Latin 16c. Related: Ascribed; ascribing.
