designate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to mark or point out; indicate; show; specify.
-
to denote; indicate; signify.
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to name; entitle; style.
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to nominate or select for a duty, office, purpose, etc.; appoint; assign.
adjective
verb
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to indicate or specify
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to give a name to; style; entitle
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to select or name for an office or duty; appoint
adjective
Other Word Forms
- dedesignate verb (used with object)
- designative adjective
- designator noun
- designatory adjective
- nondesignate adjective
- nondesignative adjective
- redesignate verb (used with object)
- undesignated adjective
- undesignative adjective
- well-designated adjective
Etymology
Origin of designate
1640–50; < Latin dēsignātus, past participle of dēsignāre. See design, -ate 1
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.
A Ford spokesman said the company doesn’t designate parking spots for company and competitor vehicles at its corporate facilities.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026
Immigrant parents can choose to leave the country with their children or to designate someone to care for them, Bis said, which “is consistent with past administration’s policies.”
From Salon • Mar. 24, 2026
They cite a 1978 memo from the Justice Department to the Carter administration saying the president could designate one of the central bank’s board members as acting chair.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 19, 2026
At that length, the Dodgers won’t need to designate long relievers to piggyback Ohtani’s starts.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026
He couldn’t see it, of course, though later he said he had felt it come forward, had perceived it with the kind of knowledge that had made the people designate Seer as his true name.
From "Messenger" by Lois Lowry
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.
