concept, conception, construct - an abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances

lineament, character, quality - a characteristic property that defines the apparent individual nature of something; "each town has a quality all its own"; "the radical character of our demands"

characteristic, feature - a prominent aspect of something; "the map showed roads and other features"; "generosity is one of his best characteristics"

abstraction - a general concept formed by extracting common features from specific examples

shape, form - the spatial arrangement of something as distinct from its substance; "geometry is the mathematical science of shape"

human nature - the shared psychological attributes of humankind that are assumed to be shared by all human beings; "a great observer of human nature"

trait - a distinguishing feature of your personal nature

thing - any attribute or quality considered as having its own existence; "the thing I like about her is ..."

common denominator - an attribute that is common to all members of a category

personality - the complex of all the attributes--behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental--that characterize a unique individual; "their different reactions reflected their very different personalities"; "it is his nature to help others"

cheerfulness, cheer - the quality of being cheerful and dispelling gloom; "flowers added a note of cheerfulness to the drab room"

uncheerfulness - not conducive to cheer or good spirits

ballast - an attribute that tends to give stability in character and morals; something that steadies the mind or feelings

ethos - (anthropology) the distinctive spirit of a culture or an era; "the Greek ethos"

eidos - (anthropology) the distinctive expression of the cognitive or intellectual character of a culture or a social group

quality - an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone; "the quality of mercy is not strained"--Shakespeare

property - a basic or essential attribute shared by all members of a class; "a study of the physical properties of atomic particles"

heritage, inheritance - any attribute or immaterial possession that is inherited from ancestors; "my only inheritance was my mother's blessing"; "the world's heritage of knowledge"

judge - form an opinion of or pass judgment on; "I cannot judge some works of modern art"

impute - attribute (responsibility or fault) to a cause or source; "The teacher imputed the student's failure to his nervousness"

impute - attribute (responsibility or fault) to a cause or source; "The teacher imputed the student's failure to his nervousness"

carnalize, sensualize - ascribe to an origin in sensation

credit - give someone credit for something; "We credited her for saving our jobs"

reattribute - attribute to another source

anthropomorphise, anthropomorphize - ascribe human features to something

personate, personify - attribute human qualities to something; "The Greeks personated their gods ridiculous"

credit, accredit - give credit for; "She was not properly credited in the program"

blame, charge - attribute responsibility to; "We blamed the accident on her"; "The tragedy was charged to her inexperience"

externalise, externalize, project - regard as objective

interiorise, interiorize, internalise, internalize - incorporate within oneself; make subjectiveor personal; "internalize a belief"

judge - form an opinion of or pass judgment on; "I cannot judge some works of modern art"

classify, relegate - assign to a class or kind; "How should algae be classified?"; "People argue about how to relegate certain mushrooms"