Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Attribution \At`tri*bu"tion\, n. [L. attributio: cf. F.
   attribution.]
   1. The act of attributing or ascribing, as a quality,
      character, or function, to a thing or person, an effect to
      a cause.

   2. That which is ascribed or attributed.

Source : WordNet®

attribution
     n 1: assigning some quality or character to a person or thing;
          "the attribution of language to birds"; "the ascription
          to me of honors I had not earned" [syn: {ascription}]
     2: assigning to a cause or source; "the attribution of lighting
        to an expression of God's wrath"; "he questioned the
        attribution of the painting to Picasso" [syn: {ascription}]