assignment

[ uh-sahyn-muhnt ]

/ əˈsaɪn mənt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR assignment ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

something assigned, as a particular task or duty: She completed the assignment and went on to other jobs.

a position of responsibility, post of duty, or the like, to which one is appointed: He left for his assignment in the Middle East.

an act of assigning; appointment.

Law.

the transference of a right, interest, or title, or the instrument of transfer.
a transference of property to assignees for the benefit of creditors.

Nearby words

assignation, assigned counsel, assigned risk, assigned sex, assignee, assignment, assignor, assimilable, assimilate, assimilation, assimilationism

Origin of assignment

1350–1400; Middle English assignament < Medieval Latin assignāmentum. See assign, -ment

SYNONYMS FOR assignment

1, 2 obligation, job.

1 See task.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR assignment ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

mis·as·sign·ment, nounnon·as·sign·ment, nounre·as·sign·ment, noun

Can be confused

assignment assignation

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

Examples from the Web for assignment

When Lewis was shipped off to Vietnam, his son was just three months old, and the timing of the assignment worried Lewis.
A West Point MVP Who Never Played a Down|Nicolaus Mills|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When Vial got that first assignment, she was just beginning her photography career, and Cirque du Soleil was only a few years old.
A Backstage Love Affair With Cirque du Soleil|Allison McNearney|December 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“For our winter issue, we gave ourselves one assignment: Break The Internet,” wrote Paper.
Kim Kardashian Bares Her Shiny, Bounteous Butt, Breaks the Internet|Marlow Stern|November 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
You were in retirement when you got the call for this assignment.
Meet America’s New Top Ebola Fighter|Abby Haglage|September 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The AP story used in the Hitler-Bush assignment is titled, “Bush: Iraq War Justified Despite No WMD,” which ran in October 2003.
D.C. Public Schools Hides Teacher Who Told Students to Compare Bush to Hitler|Asawin Suebsaeng|September 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Weer to supersede him and for his own assignment to the Second Brigade of the expedition.
The American Indian as Participant in the Civil War|Annie Heloise Abel
She had made Madame Bridau an assignment of three thousand francs out of her annuity.
The Two Brothers|Honore de Balzac
Now, when you got your assignment on or about November 17, what did you do in this regard?
Warren Commission (2 of 26): Hearings Vol. II (of 15)|The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
The assignment policies and recruitment practices of the corps were the inevitable result of its segregation policy.
Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965|Morris J. MacGregor, Jr.
At the end of his first month comes the newly enlisted man's assignment to a vessel in active cruising service.
The Sea Rovers|Rufus Rockwell Wilson

British Dictionary definitions for assignment

assignment

/ (əˈsaɪnmənt) /

noun

something that has been assigned, such as a mission or task

a position or post to which a person is assigned

the act of assigning or state of being assigned

law

the transfer to another of a right, interest, or title to property, esp personal propertyassignment of a lease
the document effecting such a transfer
the right, interest, or property transferred

law (formerly) the transfer, esp by an insolvent debtor, of property in trust for the benefit of his creditors

logic a function that associates specific values with each variable in a formal expression

Australian history a system (1789–1841) whereby a convict could become the unpaid servant of a freeman

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