ascription

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

ascription
    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: {attribution},
         {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: {attribution},
       {ascription}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Ascription \As*crip"tion\, n. [L. ascriptio, fr. ascribere. See
   {Ascribe}.]
   The act of ascribing, imputing, or affirming to belong; also,
   that which is ascribed.
   [1913 Webster]