assign

[ uh-sahyn ]

/ əˈsaɪn /

verb (used with object)

to give or allocate; allot: to assign rooms at a hotel.

to give out or announce as a task: to assign homework.

to appoint, as to a post or duty: to assign one to guard duty.

to designate; name; specify: to assign a day for a meeting.

to ascribe; attribute; bring forward: to assign a cause.

Law. to transfer: to assign a contract.

Military. to place permanently on duty with a unit or under a commander.

verb (used without object)

Law. to transfer property, especially in trust or for the benefit of creditors.

noun

Usually assigns. Law. a person to whom the property or interest of another is or may be transferred; assignee: my heirs and assigns.

Origin of assign

1250–1300; Middle English assignen < Old French assigner < Latin assignāre. See as-, sign

SYNONYMS FOR assign

4 fix, determine.

5 adduce, allege, advance, show, offer.

Related forms

as·sign·er; Chiefly Law. as·sign·or

[uh-sahy-nawr, as-uh-nawr] /ə saɪˈnɔr, ˌæs əˈnɔr/, nounmis·as·sign, verbnon·as·signed, adjectivepre·as·sign, verb (used with object)

pre·as·signed, adjectivere·as·sign, verb (used with object)self-as·signed, adjectiveun·as·signed, adjectivewell-as·signed, adjective

Synonym study

1. Assign, allocate, allot mean to apportion or measure out. To assign is to distribute available things, designating them to be given to or reserved for specific persons or purposes: to assign duties. To allocate is to earmark or set aside parts of things available or expected in the future, each for a specific purpose: to allocate income to various types of expenses. To allot implies making restrictions as to amount, size, purpose, etc., and then apportioning or assigning: to allot spaces for parking.

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

Examples from the Web for re-assign

It may frequently be necessary to re-assign the problems in order that the pupils may correct their observations.
Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Nature Study|Ontario Ministry of Education

British Dictionary definitions for re-assign

assign

/ (əˈsaɪn) /

verb (mainly tr)

to select for and appoint to a post, etcto assign an expert to the job

to give out or allot (a task, problem, etc)to assign advertising to an expert

to set apart (a place, person, time, etc) for a particular function or eventto assign a day for the meeting

to attribute to a specified cause, origin, or source; ascribeto assign a stone cross to the Vikings

to transfer (one's right, interest, or title to property) to someone else

(also intr) law (formerly) to transfer (property) to trustees so that it may be used for the benefit of creditors

military to allocate (men or materials) on a permanent basisCompare attach (def. 6)

computing to place (a value corresponding to a variable) in a memory location

noun

law a person to whom property is assigned; assignee

Derived Formsassignable, adjectiveassignability, nounassignably, adverbassigner, noun

Word Origin for assign

C14: from Old French assigner, from Latin assignāre, from signāre to mark out

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

Word Origin and History for re-assign

assign

c.1300, from Old French assiginer (13c.) "assign, set (a date, etc.); appoint legally; allot," from Latin assignare "to mark out, to allot by sign, assign, award," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + signare "make a sign," from signum "mark" (see sign). Main original use was in English law, in transferences of personal property. General meaning "to fix, settle, determine, appoint" is from c.1300. Related: Assigned; assigning.

assign

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of assign

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for re-assign

British Dictionary definitions for re-assign

assign

verb (mainly tr)

noun

Word Origin for assign

Word Origin and History for re-assign

assign