designate

verb (used with object)

to mark or point out; indicate; show; specify.

to denote; indicate; signify.

to name; entitle; style.

to nominate or select for a duty, office, purpose, etc.; appoint; assign.

adjective

named or selected for an office, position, etc., but not yet installed (often used in combination following the noun it modifies): ambassador-designate.

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Designate is a GRE word you need to know.

So is defer. Does it mean:

to delay something until a later time; to postpone:To put off action, consideration, etc. to a future time:

to be a mark or sign of; indicate:

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Origin:
1640–50; < Latin dēsignātus, past participle of dēsignāre. See design, -ate¹

Related forms

des·ig·na·tive, des·ig·na·to·ry

[dez-ig-nuh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, dez-ig-ney-tuh-ree] , adjective

des·ig·na·tor, noun

de·des·ig·nate, verb (used with object), de·des·ig·nat·ed, de·des·ig·nat·ing.

non·des·ig·nate, adjective

non·des·ig·na·tive, adjective

re·des·ig·nate, verb (used with object), re·des·ig·nat·ed, re·des·ig·nat·ing.

un·des·ig·nat·ed, adjective

un·des·ig·na·tive, adjective

well-des·ig·nat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To designate

Collins

World English Dictionary

designate

—vb
1.	to indicate or specify
2.	to give a name to; style; entitle
3.	to select or name for an office or duty; appoint

—*adj*
4.	(immediately postpositive) appointed, but not yet in office: a minister designate

[C15: from Latin dēsignātus marked out, defined; see design]

'designative

—*adj*

designatory

—*adj*

'designator

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

designate

1640s, from L. designatus, pp. of designare (see design).

Example sentences

Another is to designate specific lots of shares to be sold, usually those that

cost the most.

Designate a z-axis that is perpendicular to both x and y axes.

Then, with a few mouse strokes, you designate a part of their body to touch and

a move to put on them.

Designate important, heavily used corridors for high speed rail system.

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Matching Quote

"When I was quite young I fondly imagined that all foreign languages were codes for English. I thought that "hat," say, was the real and actual name of the thing, but that people in other countries, who obstinately persisted in speaking the code of their forefathers, might use the word "ibu," say, to designate not merely the concept hat, but the English word "hat." I knew only one foreign word, "oui," and since it had three letters as did the word for which it was a code, it seemed, touchingly enough, to confirm my theory."

-Annie Dillard