ASSIGN

assign, specify, set apart

(verb) select something or someone for a specific purpose; “The teacher assigned him to lead his classmates in the exercise”

impute, ascribe, assign, attribute

(verb) attribute or credit to; “We attributed this quotation to Shakespeare”; “People impute great cleverness to cats”

assign, attribute

(verb) decide as to where something belongs in a scheme; “The biologist assigned the mushroom to the proper class”

put, assign

(verb) attribute or give; “She put too much emphasis on her the last statement”; “He put all his efforts into this job”; “The teacher put an interesting twist to the interpretation of the story”

assign

(verb) transfer one’s right to

assign, allot, portion

(verb) give out; “We were assigned new uniforms”

arrogate, assign

(verb) make undue claims to having

delegate, designate, depute, assign

(verb) give an assignment to (a person) to a post, or assign a task to (a person)

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Verb

assign (third-person singular simple present assigns, present participle assigning, simple past and past participle assigned)

(transitive) To designate or set apart something for some purpose.

(transitive) To appoint or select someone for some office.

(transitive) To allot or give something as a task.

(transitive) To attribute or sort something into categories.

(transitive, legal) To transfer property, a legal right, etc, from one person to another.

(transitive, programming) To give (a value) to a variable.

Synonyms

• (set apart something for some purpose): allocate, earmark; see also set apart

• (transfer property): consign, convey; see also transfer

Noun

assign (plural assigns)

An assignee.

(obsolete) A thing relating or belonging to something else; an appurtenance.

(obsolete) An assignment or appointment.

(obsolete) A design or purpose.

Source: Wiktionary

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As*sign", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Assigned; p. pr. & vb. n. Assigning.] Etym: [OE. assignen, asignen, F. assigner, fr. L. assignare; ad + signare to mark, mark out, designate, signum mark, sign. See Sign.]

1. To appoint; to allot; to apportion; to make over. In the order I assign to them. Loudon. The man who could feel thus was worthy of a better station than that in which his lot had been assigned. Southey. He assigned to his men their several posts. Prescott.

2. To fix, specify, select, or designate; to point out authoritatively or exactly; as, to assign a limit; to assign counsel for a prisoner; to assign a day for trial. All as the dwarf the way to her assigned. Spenser. It is not easy to assign a period more eventful. De Quincey.

3. (Law)

Definition: To transfer, or make over to another, esp. to transfer to, and vest in, certain persons, called assignees, for the benefit of creditors. To assign dower, to set out by metes and bounds the widow's share or portion in an estate. Kent.

As*sign", n. Etym: [From Assign, v.]

Definition: A thing pertaining or belonging to something else; an appurtenance. [Obs.] Six French rapiers and poniards, with their assigns, as girdles, hangers, and so. Shak.

As*sign", n. Etym: [See Assignee.] (Law)

Definition: A person to whom property or an interest is transferred; as, a deed to a man and his heirs and assigns.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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