assign

American  

[uh-sahyn] / əˈsaɪn /

verb (used with object)

• assigns,
  present (3rd person singular)
• assigned,
  past participle,  past
• assigning
  present participle

1. to give or allocate; allot.

   to assign rooms at a hotel.

2. to give out or announce as a task.

   to assign homework.

3. to appoint, as to a post or duty.

   to assign one to guard duty.

4. to designate; name; specify.

   to assign a day for a meeting.

   Synonyms:

   determine, fix

5. to ascribe; attribute; bring forward.

   to assign a cause.

   Synonyms:

   offer, show, advance, allege, adduce

6. Law. to transfer.

   to assign a contract.

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

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verb (used without object)

• assigns,
  present (3rd person singular)
• assigned,
  past participle,  past
• assigning
  present participle

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

noun

• assigns
  plural

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

   my heirs and assigns.

assign British  

/ əˈsaɪn /

verb

1. to select for and appoint to a post, etc

   to assign an expert to the job

2. to give out or allot (a task, problem, etc)

   to assign advertising to an expert

3. to set apart (a place, person, time, etc) for a particular function or event

   to assign a day for the meeting

4. to attribute to a specified cause, origin, or source; ascribe

   to assign a stone cross to the Vikings

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

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

7. military to allocate (men or materials) on a permanent basis Compare attach

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

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noun

1. law a person to whom property is assigned; assignee

Synonym Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• assignability
  noun
• assigner
  noun
• misassign
  verb
• preassign
  verb (used with object)
• reassign
  verb (used with object)
• assignable
  adjective
• nonassigned
  adjective
• preassigned
  adjective
• self-assigned
  adjective
• unassigned
  adjective
• well-assigned
  adjective
• assignably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• assigns
  plural

Participles

• assigning
  present
• assigned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• assign
  simple
• assigns
  simple
• have assigned
  perfect
• has assigned
  perfect
• am assigning
  progressive
• are assigning
  progressive
• is assigning
  progressive
• have been assigning
  perfect progressive
• has been assigning
  perfect progressive

Past

• assigned
  simple
• had assigned
  perfect
• was assigning
  progressive
• were assigning
  progressive
• had been assigning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will assign
  simple
• will have assigned
  perfect
• will be assigning
  progressive
• will have been assigning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of assign

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English assignen, from Old French assigner, from Latin assignāre; equivalent to as- + sign

Explanation

To assign is to specify something or someone for a specific purpose. If your sisters fight over whose turn it is to sit in the front seat, your parents may have to assign turns. The verb assign also means to transfer legal rights. You assign the deed to your house to new owners when you sell it. If you sort things into categories by characteristics, you are assigning them categories. When you make a budget, you assign each expense a category. Food and housing, for example, may be essential living expenses and medicine and doctor's visits may be health care. Chocolate gets its own category.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

assign assigns assigned assigning

It cannot tell me what level of risk I should assign to that fact.

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

Although grades won’t be recorded on student transcripts or affect grade-point averages, professors will still assign them internally to track eligibility for scholarships and academic awards.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

"It makes it harder to assign attribution because if all of your attacks and groups are coming out of Iran, you can pretty much link it to Iran," Wright said.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

The agency also refused to assign any benefits to the reduction of pollutants like nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide.

From Slate ● Aug. 2, 2026

“Or perhaps Mrs. Baker will assign selected lines to you. Do you think that you might enjoy learning a line or two?”

From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt

That number is the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s “heat-sensitivity score,” a rating a computer assigns based on medical conditions and medications that could make someone more susceptible to heat.

From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2026

She assigns priority levels—critical, important and optional—to indicate what information is essential.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

Morningstar’s base-case scenario, which it assigns a 50% probability, assumes that SpaceX achieves a reusable Starship rocket and somewhat economical orbital data centers.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 6, 2026

Secondly, he is a structured manager with a vision about the game, which assigns a job description for every player, and the role they need to carry out.

From BBC ● May 26, 2026

That seating chart accounts for all the rational numbers—it assigns each of them a seat—so we can count them off one by one, in order, based on their seat number.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

A third study followed approximately 600 of the original 1,000 participants who had been assigned either digoxin or placebo.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026

Lana Barnett, the prosecutor assigned to the case from the Justice Systems Integrity Division.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

A 2012 randomized controlled trial sponsored by the federal government found that children assigned to Head Start showed transient improvements in language and literacy during preschool.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

I must have irked him somehow to get assigned to Katie.

From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen

What doesn’t change is our impulse to explain complicated social and economic changes by assigning a personality to an entire generation.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

It is assigning no value whatsoever to these environmental benefits, thereby ignoring the very health concerns the agency was created to address.

From Slate ● Aug. 2, 2026

Analysts have become more optimistic about Southwest in recent months, with those assigning the company’s stock “buy” or “hold” ratings slowly becoming the majority.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

The media blitz shocked some at City Hall, who believed Crowley should have waited until the emergency was over before publicly assigning blame.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026

Oppenheimer reorganized the entire lab, assigning everyone available to various aspects of the implosion puzzle.

From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin

Related Words

• accredit
• allow
• appoint
• attach
• authorize
• charge
• commit
• designate
• draft
• elect
• empower
• entrust
• hire
• name
• nominate
• refer
• select