assign

American  

[uh-sahyn] / əˈsaɪn /

verb (used with object)

• assigns,
  present (3rd person singular)
• assigned,
  past participle,  past
• assigning
  present participle

1. to give or allocate; allot.

   to assign rooms at a hotel.

2. to give out or announce as a task.

   to assign homework.

3. to appoint, as to a post or duty.

   to assign one to guard duty.

4. to designate; name; specify.

   to assign a day for a meeting.

   Synonyms:

   determine, fix

5. to ascribe; attribute; bring forward.

   to assign a cause.

   Synonyms:

   offer, show, advance, allege, adduce

6. Law. to transfer.

   to assign a contract.

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

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verb (used without object)

• assigns,
  present (3rd person singular)
• assigned,
  past participle,  past
• assigning
  present participle

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

noun

• assigns
  plural

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

   my heirs and assigns.

assign British  

/ əˈsaɪn /

verb

1. to select for and appoint to a post, etc

   to assign an expert to the job

2. to give out or allot (a task, problem, etc)

   to assign advertising to an expert

3. to set apart (a place, person, time, etc) for a particular function or event

   to assign a day for the meeting

4. to attribute to a specified cause, origin, or source; ascribe

   to assign a stone cross to the Vikings

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

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

7. military to allocate (men or materials) on a permanent basis Compare attach

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

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noun

1. law a person to whom property is assigned; assignee

Synonym Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• assignability
  noun
• assigner
  noun
• misassign
  verb
• preassign
  verb (used with object)
• reassign
  verb (used with object)
• assignable
  adjective
• nonassigned
  adjective
• preassigned
  adjective
• self-assigned
  adjective
• unassigned
  adjective
• well-assigned
  adjective
• assignably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• assigns
  plural

Participles

• assigning
  present
• assigned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• assign
  simple
• assigns
  simple
• have assigned
  perfect
• has assigned
  perfect
• am assigning
  progressive
• are assigning
  progressive
• is assigning
  progressive
• have been assigning
  perfect progressive
• has been assigning
  perfect progressive

Past

• assigned
  simple
• had assigned
  perfect
• was assigning
  progressive
• were assigning
  progressive
• had been assigning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will assign
  simple
• will have assigned
  perfect
• will be assigning
  progressive
• will have been assigning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of assign

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English assignen, from Old French assigner, from Latin assignāre; equivalent to as- + sign

Explanation

To assign is to specify something or someone for a specific purpose. If your sisters fight over whose turn it is to sit in the front seat, your parents may have to assign turns. The verb assign also means to transfer legal rights. You assign the deed to your house to new owners when you sell it. If you sort things into categories by characteristics, you are assigning them categories. When you make a budget, you assign each expense a category. Food and housing, for example, may be essential living expenses and medicine and doctor's visits may be health care. Chocolate gets its own category.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

assign assigns assigned assigning

It cannot tell me what level of risk I should assign to that fact.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

The agency also refused to assign any benefits to the reduction of pollutants like nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide.

From Slate ● Aug. 2, 2026

"To assign a political meaning to that collaboration means ascribing to me beliefs which I have never expressed and that do not belong to me," Pirlo wrote.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

Traders nonetheless continued to assign low odds to a July move, with the likelihood implied by futures markets standing at just 10%, after this week’s cooler-than-expected inflation data.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

My sisters and I shifted in our chairs, expecting Father to assign Methuselah “The Verse.”

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

“What we object to is a review that misstates the plan’s contents and reaches beyond the issues the Education Code assigns to the county, all while threatening escalation.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

That number is the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s “heat-sensitivity score,” a rating a computer assigns based on medical conditions and medications that could make someone more susceptible to heat.

From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2026

She assigns priority levels—critical, important and optional—to indicate what information is essential.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

He served as secretary to the government of the federation, the office that assigns agencies their space and status, under Tinubu's predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

After our mile warm-up, Coach West explains how we’re going to try a bunch of different things, and she assigns us to groups.

From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée

Referee Iván Barton recalls how he was assigned to officiate a World Cup semifinal between France and Spain and his view of changes that have shaped modern refereeing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

Said was assigned to cover the Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Travelers can request alternatives to their assigned booking options, but might need to pay more, according to Mystery Vacations Director Gaurav Jaura.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

The Fed’s mission meshes more clearly with powers assigned by the Constitution to Congress than to the president.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

The numbers for these future aviation regiments had already been assigned.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

It is assigning no value whatsoever to these environmental benefits, thereby ignoring the very health concerns the agency was created to address.

From Slate ● Aug. 2, 2026

Analysts have become more optimistic about Southwest in recent months, with those assigning the company’s stock “buy” or “hold” ratings slowly becoming the majority.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

Boll believes Germany “banned” the film by not assigning it an age rating, fearing it could incite violence, making it unfit for German theatrical release.

From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026

District officials declined to provide the correspondence with Carvalho, instead assigning the request to the district’s Public Records Act unit, where some requests for records have taken years to resolve.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2026

Penelope strode up and down like a general, inspecting each pile and assigning a score, which the Incorrigibles carefully noted down.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

Related Words

• accredit
• allow
• appoint
• attach
• authorize
• charge
• commit
• designate
• draft
• elect
• empower
• entrust
• hire
• name
• nominate
• refer
• select