assignment

American  

[uh-sahyn-muhnt] / əˈsaɪn mənt /

noun

• assignments
  plural

1. something assigned, as a particular task or duty.

   She completed the assignment and went on to other jobs.

   Synonyms:

   job, obligation

2. a position of responsibility, post of duty, or the like, to which one is appointed.

   He left for his assignment in the Middle East.

   Synonyms:

   job, obligation

3. an act of assigning; appointment.

4. Law.

   1. the transference of a right, interest, or title, or the instrument of transfer.

   2. a transference of property to assignees for the benefit of creditors.

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assignment British  

/ əˈsaɪnmənt /

noun

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

2. a position or post to which a person is assigned

3. the act of assigning or state of being assigned

4. law

   1. the transfer to another of a right, interest, or title to property, esp personal property

      assignment of a lease

   2. the document effecting such a transfer

   3. the right, interest, or property transferred

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

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

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

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Synonym Usage

See task.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• misassignment
  noun
• nonassignment
  noun
• reassignment
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• assignments
  plural

Etymology

Origin of assignment

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English assignament, from Medieval Latin assignāmentum. See assign, -ment

Explanation

Whether you’re an international spy with a new mission or a high school student with math homework — when you get an assignment, you’d better do it! An assignment is a task that someone in authority has asked you to do. The word assignment is just the noun form of the common verb assign, which you use when you want to give someone a duty or a job. When you assign something, that something is called an assignment. The word can also refer to the act of distributing something. If you are distributing new office furniture at work, you might say, “Assignment of the new chairs will begin tomorrow.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

assignment assignments

The assignment surprised some colleagues, in part because she was gone and back in 48 hours.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Instead, each assignment depends on the performance shown during the previous match.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

For another assignment he received a pin for a location inside a Lithuanian cemetery and was told to dig beneath some plastic flowers.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

I’m a writer who has been sent out on assignment to the stucco estates of suburban Los Angeles to profile a young socialist named Hasan Piker.

From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026

Even so, Neubauer believed he had no choice about his assignment.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

She was a stickler for analysis, whose intensive assignments were the bane of many classmates.

From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026

There's only one drawback: "long separations from the family during assignments," he says from Kosovo, where he is helping install a wind farm.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

And now, after two and a half years of roaming the state between work assignments, they’re back to report that they’ve covered all 101 locations on that list.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

Existing officials, already stretched thin, are being asked to take even more assignments, which leads to burnout and even higher turnover.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Tats shrugs as well and says, “Most of my classes have assignments instead of exams. I have one on Tuesday. But of course, you must be ready, huh?”

From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali

Related Words

• appointment
• chore
• drill
• duty
• homework
• job
• position
• post
• practice
• stint