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assign

 - 7 dictionary results

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.
6. Law. to transfer: to assign a contract.
7. Military. to place permanently on duty with a unit or under a commander.
–verb (used without object)
8. Law. to transfer property, esp. in trust or for the benefit of creditors.
–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; ME assignen < OF assigner < L assignāre. See as-, sign


as⋅sign⋅er; Chiefly Law. as⋅sign⋅or [uh-sahy-nawr, as-uh-nawr] , noun


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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To assign
as·sign   (ə-sīn')   
tr.v.   as·signed, as·sign·ing, as·signs
  1. To set apart for a particular purpose; designate: assigned a day for the inspection.

  2. To select for a duty or office; appoint: firefighters assigned to the city's industrial park.

  3. To give out as a task; allot: assigned homework to the class.

  4. To ascribe; attribute: sorted the rocks by assigning them to different categories. See Synonyms at attribute.

  5. Law To transfer (property, rights, or interests) from one to another.

  6. To place (a person or a military unit) under a specific command.

n.   Law
An assignee.

[Middle English assignen, from Old French assigner, from Latin assignāre : ad-, ad- + signāre, to mark (from signum, sign; see sekw-1 in Indo-European roots).]
as·sign'a·bil'i·ty n., as·sign'a·ble adj., as·sign'a·bly adv., as·sign'er n.
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

assign 
1297, from O.Fr. assigner, 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. The act of being so transferred was an assignation (c.1400). General meaning "to fix, settle, determine, appoint" is from c.1305. Assignment "a task assigned (to someone)" is from c.1848.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

Assign

The act of clearing houses and brokerages selecting short option and future contract holders to deliver underlying securities or commodities of maturing or exercised/tendered contracts.

Investopedia Commentary

Not all contracts will typically be exercised or tendered, and those that are need to be settled with delivery of the underlying security/commodity. Most often clearing houses will randomly allocate assigned contracts to brokerages who in turn randomly select which of their clients will assigned.

Related Links

Options Basics Tutorial
Futures Fundamentals

See also: Assignment, Broker, Clearing House, Commodity, Exercise, Futures Contract, Option, Underlying

Investopedia.com. Copyright © 1999-2005 - All rights reserved. Owned and Operated by Investopedia Inc.
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assign

To decide which writer of an option or futures contract (the party that is short the security) will be required to perform the terms of the contract. Clearing corporations and brokerage companies usually assign this responsibility in a random manner when the holders of the contracts ask for delivery of the asset specified in the contract.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: 1as·sign
Pronunciation: &-'sIn
Function: transitive verb
1 : to transfer (property or rights) to another assigning patent rights —J. K. Owens>
2 : to appoint to a post or duty <assigned to represent the defendant>
3 : to fix or specify in relationship or correspondence assign as error the giving or the failure to give an instruction unless that party objects thereto —Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 51> —as·sign·abil·i·ty /&-"sI-n&-'bi-l&-tE/ nounas·sign·able /&-'sI-n&-b&l/ adjectiveas·sign·or /&-'sI-n&r/ noun

Main Entry: 2assign
Function: noun
: ASSIGNEE
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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