Nearby Words

assign

[uh-sahyn] Origin

as·sign

[uh-sahyn]
verb (used with object)
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.
5.
to ascribe; attribute; bring forward: to assign a cause.
EXPAND
6.
Law. to transfer: to assign a contract.
7.
Military. to place permanently on duty with a unit or under a commander.
COLLAPSE
verb (used without object)
8.
Law. to transfer property, especially in trust or for the benefit of creditors.

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Assign is always a great word to know.
So is assignment. Does it mean:
the transference of a right, interest, or title, or the instrument of transfer; a transference of property to assignees for the benefit of creditors
the unlawful killing of a human being without malice aforethought
noun
9.
Usually, assigns. Law. a person to whom the property or interest of another is or may be transferred; assignee: my heirs and assigns.

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

as·sign·er; Chiefly Law. as·sign·or [uh-sahy-nawr, as-uh-nawr] , noun
mis·as·sign, verb
non·as·signed, adjective
pre·as·sign, verb (used with object)
pre·as·signed, adjective
EXPAND
re·as·sign, verb (used with object)
self-as·signed, adjective
un·as·signed, adjective
well-as·signed, adjective
COLLAPSE


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. 4. fix, determine. 5. adduce, allege, advance, show, offer.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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World English Dictionary
assign (əˈsaɪn)
 
vb
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 Compare attach to allocate (men or materials) on a permanent basis
8.  computing to place (a value corresponding to a variable) in a memory location
 
n
9.  law a person to whom property is assigned; assignee
 
[C14: from Old French assigner, from Latin assignāre, from signāre to mark out]
 
as'signable
 
adj
 
assigna'bility
 
n
 
as'signably
 
adv
 
as'signer
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

assign
c.1300, from O.Fr. assigner (13c.), from L. assignare "to mark out, to allot by sign," from ad- "to" + signare "make a sign," from signum "mark" (see sign). Main original use was in Eng. law, in transferences of personal property. General meaning "to fix, settle, determine, appoint" is from c.1300.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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