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.
With Musk's blessing, he was appointed as pointman for AI and cryptocurrency policy.
From Barron's
After lawmakers took away the governor’s power to appoint the election board’s members, Hayes became its director.
From Salon
Her surprise appointment came only three months after BP appointed a new chairman, Albert Manifold.
From BBC
A team of three independent advisers are appointed by the first minister to provide guidance on the code set out for ministers.
From BBC
By contrast, in the first two years of his presidency, Biden appointed about two dozen people who, combined, held less than $7 million in crypto investments.
From Salon
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.
