assign

[uh-sahyn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR assign ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to give or allocate; allot: to assign rooms at a hotel.

to give out or announce as a task: to assign homework.

to appoint, as to a post or duty: to assign one to guard duty.

to designate; name; specify: to assign a day for a meeting.

to ascribe; attribute; bring forward: to assign a cause.

Law. to transfer: to assign a contract.

Military. to place permanently on duty with a unit or under a commander.

verb (used without object)

Law. to transfer property, especially in trust or for the benefit of creditors.

noun

Usually assigns. Law. a person to whom the property or interest of another is or may be transferred; assignee: my heirs and assigns.

Origin of assign

1250–1300; Middle English assignen < Old French assigner < Latin assignāre. See as-, sign

Related formsas·sign·er; Chiefly Law. as·sign·or

[uh-sahy-nawr, as-uh-nawr] /ə saɪˈnɔr, ˌæs əˈnɔr/, nounmis·as·sign, verbnon·as·signed, adjectivepre·as·sign, verb (used with object)pre·as·signed, adjectivere·as·sign, verb (used with object)self-as·signed, adjectiveun·as·signed, adjectivewell-as·signed, adjective

Synonyms for assign

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR assign ON THESAURUS.COM

4. fix, determine. 5. adduce, allege, advance, show, offer.

Synonym study

1. Assign, allocate, allot mean to apportion or measure out. To assign is to distribute available things, designating them to be given to or reserved for specific persons or purposes: to assign duties. To allocate is to earmark or set aside parts of things available or expected in the future, each for a specific purpose: to allocate income to various types of expenses. To allot implies making restrictions as to amount, size, purpose, etc., and then apportioning or assigning: to allot spaces for parking.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for assign

appoint, authorize, hire, elect, name, nominate, empower, attach, charge, draft, allow, accredit, commit, entrust, refer, select, designate, distribute, grant, give

Examples from the Web for assign

Contemporary Examples of assign

Now the Kremlin will assign more loyal people to rule the region, mostly military leaders.
Recession? Devaluation? Inflation? Putin Tells Russia Stay the Course.
Anna Nemtsova
December 4, 2014
When we assign a primitive “not me” status to another individual or social group, it can—and does—take us down a destructive path.
Ferguson, Immigration, and ‘Us Vs. Them’
Gene Robinson
November 27, 2014
Other folks can debate and assign blame for “who lost Iraq.”
Iran Is the Biggest Loser in Iraq
Aki Peritz
June 15, 2014
Renee Richardson knows she'll likely never be able to assign blame for her son's death—she's done fighting for that.
What Military Base Shootings Reveal About the Mental Health Debate
Caitlin Dickson
February 9, 2014
Girls are directed through several pages of this until they are asked to assign the guy a series of pre-decided adjectives.
Meet Lulu: An App That Lets Girls Rate Guys Anonymously
Isabel Wilkinson
August 22, 2013

Historical Examples of assign

With what cheerfulness will I assign over this envied estate!
Clarissa, Volume 2 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
It is perhaps too early to assign him his place in American literature.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VI (of VII)
John Greenleaf Whittier
And if it be impossible to assign any, this will serve to confirm our suspicion.
An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
David Hume
I have met with the word in French authors, but never could assign any idea to it.
Joseph Andrews, Vol. 2
Henry Fielding
Between thirty and fifty years, it was impossible to assign an age to him.
Ramuntcho
Pierre Loti

British Dictionary definitions for assign

assign

verb (mainly tr)

to select for and appoint to a post, etcto assign an expert to the job

to give out or allot (a task, problem, etc)to assign advertising to an expert

to set apart (a place, person, time, etc) for a particular function or eventto assign a day for the meeting

to attribute to a specified cause, origin, or source; ascribeto assign a stone cross to the Vikings

to transfer (one's right, interest, or title to property) to someone else

(also intr) law (formerly) to transfer (property) to trustees so that it may be used for the benefit of creditors

military to allocate (men or materials) on a permanent basisCompare attach (def. 6)

computing to place (a value corresponding to a variable) in a memory location

noun

law a person to whom property is assigned; assignee

Derived Formsassignable, adjectiveassignability, nounassignably, adverbassigner, noun

Word Origin for assign

C14: from Old French assigner, from Latin assignāre, from signāre to mark out

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for assign

c.1300, from Old French assiginer (13c.) "assign, set (a date, etc.); appoint legally; allot," from Latin assignare "to mark out, to allot by sign, assign, award," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + signare "make a sign," from signum "mark" (see sign). Main original use was in English law, in transferences of personal property. General meaning "to fix, settle, determine, appoint" is from c.1300. Related: Assigned; assigning.