Word of the Day - attribute

attribute

Verb/əˈtrɪbjuːt/
Noun/ˈatrɪbjuːt/

verb
[with object]
attribute something to
1 Regard something as being caused by.
1.1 Ascribe a work or remark to (a particular author, artist, or speaker)
1.2 Regard a quality or feature as characteristic of or possessed by.
Noun
1 A quality or feature regarded as a characteristic or inherent part of someone or something.
1.1
A material object recognized as symbolic of a person, especially a
conventional object used in art to identify a saint or mythical figure.

Origin
Late
15th century: the noun from Old French attribut; the verb from Latin
attribut- ‘allotted’: both from the verb attribuere, from ad- ‘to’ +
tribuere ‘assign’.

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The number of legs is an identifying attribute of arthropods, insects well-known for six legs; spiders have eight; centipedes, in spite of the name, don't actually have 100.