consign
Americanverb (used with object)
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to hand over or deliver formally or officially; commit (often followed byto ).
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to transfer to another's custody or charge; entrust.
- Synonyms:
- confide
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to set apart for or devote to (a special purpose or use).
to consign two afternoons a week to the club.
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to banish or set apart in one's mind; relegate.
to consign unpleasant thoughts to oblivion.
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Commerce.
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to ship, as by common carrier, especially for sale or custody.
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to address for such shipment.
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Obsolete. to confirm or ratify, as with a seal or other token.
verb (used without object)
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to agree or assent.
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Obsolete. to yield or submit.
verb
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to hand over or give into the care or charge of another; entrust
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to commit irrevocably
he consigned the papers to the flames
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to commit for admittance
to consign someone to jail
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to address or deliver (goods) for sale, disposal, etc
it was consigned to his London address
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obsolete (intr) to assent; agree
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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consignationnoun
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preconsignverb (used with object)
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reconsignverb (used with object)
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consignableadjective
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unconsignableadjective
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unconsignedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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consignsimple
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consignssimple
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have consignedperfect
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has consignedperfect
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am consigningprogressive
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are consigningprogressive
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is consigningprogressive
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have been consigningperfect progressive
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has been consigningperfect progressive
Past
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consignedsimple
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had consignedperfect
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was consigningprogressive
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were consigningprogressive
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had been consigningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of consign
1400–50; late Middle English; apparently (< Middle French consigner ) < Medieval Latin consignāre to mark with sign of cross, Latin: to mark with a seal. See con-, sign
Explanation
The verb consign means to transfer permanently to another. You can consign ownership of your old car to your son, an act that will probably make you the "best parent ever" in his eyes. Consign means to commit or relegate. Those platform shoes you still have from high school in the 1970s? You should probably consign them to the trash — of course, they probably should have been consigned in the 1970s! Consign can also be used if you turn over an object for sale where the business making the sale gets a percentage of the profits and so do you. If you don't like the art work you inherited, you might consign it with an auction house and use the profits to buy something you like better.
Vocabulary lists containing consign
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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Grade 11, List 4
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A Tale of Two Cities
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
George’s cluckingly affectionate aunt wants to enfold Hedda in a tradition that would consign her to the role of wife and mother.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
“Athena helps us incentivize them to consign again and we can move things quicker and do it more accurately.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 21, 2026
This isn’t to consign Richman to pop’s deep bin of one-hit wonders.
From New York Times ● Dec. 6, 2024
The originator of the concept, Snapchat, started out as a simple photo-sharing app that promised to consign your private visual messages after just a few seconds each.
From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2024
What made it possible to consign alchemy to the dustbin of history was a new understanding of what chemists were trying to do.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Instead the two become friends, and Cora consigns the fling to the realm of her imagination.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
It consigns out-of-form Fakhar Zaman to the bench at least in the short term, while also adding strength to the batting lineup that is so dependent on captain Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 13, 2023
Chelsea win the Women's Super League for a fourth successive season with a 3-0 final-day victory at Reading - a result which consigns the home side to relegation.
From BBC ● May 27, 2023
“Gucci” has won some ardent fans swooning over Lady Gaga’s scenery-chewing, roaring, Haaaaaa-ahhhh-ahhh-ohhhh-ahhaaaaaa-ahhhh-ahhh-ohhhh-ah!!! turn as the story’s aggrieved Lady Macbeth stand-in, which I can appreciate up till the movie consigns her to the background.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 23, 2021
The law which consigns all to one penal fate, devotes all to one common ruin.
From The History of Tasmania , Volume II by West, John
“Yet here is this singular brilliance, consigned to a small span of years. He places the two side by side in the scales.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
The club suffered the earliest-ever relegation in English football, as defeat at Sheffield United on 22 February consigned them to League One with 13 games to play.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
When she was consigned to a sale in the summer of 2021, he bought her with Hidden Brook for $135,000.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026
Combined with the move towards colour, the black and white story was thought to have little future value and consigned to the bin.
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2026
“He says to tell you that you have been consigned to the dung heap of history while people like him ride in their limos down the superhighways of life. Something like that.”
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
Mr. Booker, then Newark’s mayor, responded with a viral tweet “banning” Mr. O’Brien from Newark airport and consigning him to JFK instead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
The landscape is particularly difficult for first-time buyers, consigning many to the used car market, Drury said.
From Barron's ● Jan. 7, 2026
Clarke acknowledged the questionable morality of such a project, consigning these explorers to an “onerous and uncertain future.”
From Slate ● Dec. 9, 2025
First up is a visit from Greece, who return to Hampden on Thursday seven months after consigning the Scots to Nations League relegation in a classy three-goal win.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2025
I believe that justice demands that you reject the testimony of these men, consigning their stories to the area of deep doubt.
From "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
