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assign

[uh-sahyn]
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verb (used with object)
  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.
  5. to ascribe; attribute; bring forward: to assign a cause.
  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)
  1. Law. to transfer property, especially in trust or for the benefit of creditors.
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noun
  1. Usually assigns. Law. a person to whom the property or interest of another is or may be transferred; assignee: my heirs and assigns.
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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

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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. 2018

Related Words

appointauthorizehireelectnamenominateempowerattachchargedraftallowaccreditcommitentrustreferselectdesignatedistributegrantgive

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British Dictionary definitions for assign

assign

verb (mainly tr)
  1. to select for and appoint to a post, etcto 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 eventto assign a day for the meeting
  4. to attribute to a specified cause, origin, or source; ascribeto 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 basisCompare attach (def. 6)
  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
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Derived Formsassignable, adjectiveassignability, nounassignably, adverbassigner, noun

Word Origin

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

v.

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper