assign
[uh-sahyn]
- 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.
Show More
- Law. to transfer property, especially in trust or for the benefit of creditors.
Show More
- Usually assigns. Law. a person to whom the property or interest of another is or may be transferred; assignee: my heirs and assigns.
Show More
Origin of assign
Synonyms
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. 2018
Examples from the Web for reassign
Contemporary Examples
Leslie H. Gelb on why he must reassign Rahm, dump Larry Summers, and get rid of National Security adviser Jim Jones.
Historical Examples
Anyhow, Malone was reasonably sure that he could reassign himself from vacation time, at least until he called Burris.
Occasion for DisasterGordon Randall Garrett
reassign
- to move (personnel, resources, etc) to a new post, department, location, etc
Show More
assign
- 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
Show More
- law a person to whom property is assigned; assignee
Show More
Word Origin
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 reassign
assign
v.
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.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper