Most generally, an attribute is a variable associated with an entity or object. Attributes are found in databases, file systems, and object-oriented programming.
In relational database theory, an attribute is one of the properties associated with an entity or tuple. For database models in grid format, attributes correspond to columns.
In file systems, files carry attributes as metadata. In Windows NTFS, for example, files carry values for the properties read-only, hidden, archive, index, compress, and encrypt. These attributes direct the operating system to process the files in particular ways during activities such as back-up and search.
For object-oriented programming, attributes are those portions of objects designed to carry data. Attributes join with methods in the definition of an object.