assign

[ uh-sahyn ]

/ əˈsaɪn /

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.

Nearby words

asshur, assibilate, assidean, assiduity, assiduous, assign, assignable, assignat, assignation, assigned counsel, assigned risk

Origin of assign

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

SYNONYMS FOR assign

4 fix, determine.

5 adduce, allege, advance, show, offer.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR assign ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

as·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

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

Examples from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
Other folks can debate and assign blame for “who lost Iraq.”
Iran Is the Biggest Loser in Iraq|Aki Peritz|June 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

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|DAILY BEAST
He has been directed to report himself to you at Fort Smith for instructions, when you will assign him to duty.
The American Indian as Slaveholder and Seccessionist|Annie Heloise Abel
If it be his good pleasure to assign thee the part of a beggar, a ruler, or a simple citizen, thine it is to play it fitly.
The Golden Sayings of Epictetus|Epictetus
We may regard our race as composed of all the nations that have been and will be—and assign to it different ages.
The Idea of Progress|J. B. Bury
The duchies consequently fell repeatedly into the hands of the king, who then claimed the right to assign them to whom he wished.
An Introduction to the History of Western Europe|James Harvey Robinson
It is impossible to assign a precise date to the disappearance of the old Italian method.
The Psychology of Singing|David C. Taylor

British Dictionary definitions for assign

assign

/ (əˈsaɪn) /

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 Forms

assignable, 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