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appoint

 - 4 dictionary results

ap⋅point

  [uh-point]
Use appoint in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to name or assign to a position, an office, or the like; designate: to appoint a new treasurer; to appoint a judge to the bench.
2. to determine by authority or agreement; fix; set: to appoint a time for the meeting.
3. Law. to designate (a person) to take the benefit of an estate created by a deed or will.
4. to provide with what is necessary; equip; furnish: They appointed the house with all the latest devices.
5. Archaic. to order or establish by decree or command; ordain; constitute: laws appointed by God.
6. Obsolete. to point at by way of censure.
–verb (used without object)
7. Obsolete. to ordain; resolve; determine.
Origin:
1325–75; ME apointen < MF apointer, equiv. to a- a- 5 + pointer to point

Related forms:
ap⋅point⋅a⋅ble, adjective
ap⋅point⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. choose, select. 2. prescribe, establish.

Antonyms:
1. dismiss, discharge.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To appoint
ap·point   (ə-point')   
tr.v.   ap·point·ed, ap·point·ing, ap·points

  1. To select or designate to fill an office or a position: appointed her the chief operating officer of the company.

  2. To fix or set by authority or by mutual agreement: will appoint a date for the examination.

  3. To furnish; equip: a house that is comfortably appointed.

  4. Law To direct the disposition of (property) to a person or persons in exercise of a power granted for this purpose by a preceding deed.


[Middle English appointen, from Old French apointer, apointier, to arrange, from a point, to the point : a, to (from Latin ad; see ad-) + point, point; see point.]
Synonyms: These verbs mean to select for an office or position: was appointed chairperson of the committee; expects to be designated leader of the opposition; a new police commissioner named by the mayor; to be nominated as her party's candidate; was tapped for fraternity membership. See Also Synonyms at furnish.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

appoint 
c.1374, from O.Fr. apointier "to arrange, settle, place," from apointer "duly, fitly," from phrase à point "to the point," from a- "to" + point "point," from L. punctum. The ground sense is "to come to a point about (a matter), agree, settle." Appointment first recorded 1417; meaning "agreement or arrangement for a meeting" is from c.1530; sense of "act of placing in office" is from 1658.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: ap·point
Pronunciation: &-'point
Function: transitive verb
1 : to name officially to a position <appointed to the agency's top post> <appointed conservator of the estate>
2 : to determine the distribution of (property) by exercising the authority granted by a power of appointment appoint the corpus of a trust —W. M. McGovern, Junior et al.> intransitive verb : to exercise a power of appointment —see also POWER OF APPOINTMENT —ap·point·ive /&-'poin-tiv/ adjective —ap·point·ment noun
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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