'misattribute' originates from English, combining the prefix 'mis-' (from Old English/Proto-Germanic meaning 'wrong' or 'badly') and 'attribute' (from Latin 'attribuere', where 'ad-' meant 'to' and 'tribuere' meant 'to give/assign').

'attribute' comes from Latin 'attribuere' which passed into Old French as 'attribuer' and then into Middle English as 'attribute'; the negative prefix 'mis-' (Old English 'mis-') was attached in Modern English to form 'misattribute', and 'misattributed' is the regular past/past-participle form.

Initially the root 'attribute' meant 'to give or assign (a quality or cause)'; adding 'mis-' changed the sense to 'assign wrongly'; this core idea ('to assign wrongly') has remained consistent into modern use.