To set apart for a particular purpose; designate: assigned a day for the inspection.
To select for a duty or office; appoint: firefighters assigned to the city's industrial park.
To give out as a task; allot: assigned homework to the class.
To ascribe; attribute: sorted the rocks by assigning them to different categories. See Synonyms at attribute.
Law To transfer (property, rights, or interests) from one to another.
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.