appoint
Americanverb (used with object)
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to name or assign to a position, an office, or the like; designate.
to appoint a new treasurer; to appoint a judge to the bench.
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to determine by authority or agreement; fix; set.
to appoint a time for the meeting.
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Law. to designate (a person) to take the benefit of an estate created by a deed or will.
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to provide with what is necessary; equip; furnish.
They appointed the house with all the latest devices.
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Archaic. to order or establish by decree or command; ordain; constitute.
laws appointed by God.
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Obsolete. to point at by way of censure.
verb (used without object)
verb
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(also intr) to assign officially, as for a position, responsibility, etc
he was appointed manager
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to establish by agreement or decree; fix
a time was appointed for the duel
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to prescribe or ordain
laws appointed by tribunal
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property law to nominate (a person), under a power granted in a deed or will, to take an interest in property
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to equip with necessary or usual features; furnish
a well-appointed hotel
Related Words
See furnish.
Other Word Forms
- appointable adjective
- appointer noun
- misappoint verb (used with object)
- reappoint verb (used with object)
- unappointable adjective
Etymology
Origin of appoint
1325–75; Middle English apointen, from Middle French apointer, equivalent to a- a- 5 + pointer “to point ”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Fernández has hinted she may appoint him to a post in her cabinet.
From BBC
Kabawat also says one of the president's biggest mistakes has not been appointing other women in his cabinet, though she says he has assured her there will be more.
From BBC
Lord Mandelson was appointed as the UK's ambassador to the US in December 2024 but was sacked less than a year later, when it emerged he had sent supportive messages to Epstein following the conviction.
From BBC
Last year, several directors at the CCA resigned, before a new chairwoman, Muse Greenwood, was appointed in December.
From BBC
They are chosen by an independent committee appointed by parliament.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
