assignment

[ uh-sahyn-muhnt ]
See synonyms for assignment on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. something assigned, as a particular task or duty: She completed the assignment and went on to other jobs.

  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.

  1. an act of assigning; appointment.

  2. 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.

Origin of assignment

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English assignament, from Medieval Latin assignāmentum. See assign, -ment

synonym study For assignment

1. See task.

Other words for assignment

Other words from assignment

  • mis·as·sign·ment, noun
  • non·as·sign·ment, noun
  • re·as·sign·ment, noun

Words that may be confused with assignment

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use assignment in a sentence

  • Toward the end of the campaign his assignments increased until all his time was taken.

    A Hoosier Chronicle | Meredith Nicholson
  • Assignments came to be made of one acre to a family, near the palisaded hamlet for convenience and better security.

    William Bradford of Plymouth | Albert Hale Plumb
  • For a short time he had no assignments that taxed his abilities in either direction.

    The Flying Reporter | Lewis E. (Lewis Edwin) Theiss
  • If you make as good time as you have made on some other assignments, you can get back here before 10:30.

    The Flying Reporter | Lewis E. (Lewis Edwin) Theiss
  • Not a lot of business-reporting assignments involved spending time with half-naked, sun-baked dudes in remote southern junkyards.

    Makers | Cory Doctorow

British Dictionary definitions for assignment

assignment

/ (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

  1. the act of assigning or state of being assigned

  2. law

    • the transfer to another of a right, interest, or title to property, esp personal property: assignment of a lease

    • the document effecting such a transfer

    • the right, interest, or property transferred

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

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

  5. 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