ENGLISH
REFERENCE

appoint

v.
C1 Advanced Oxford US //əˈpɔɪnt// UK //ɐpˈɔɪnt// ap·point Archaic

v. to choose someone officially for a job or a position of responsibility. You often see this word when a leader or a group picks a person for a specific role.

v. to assign a person to a position, office, or duty by authority. Transitive; frequently used in the passive voice when the focus is on the person receiving the role.


SIMPLE

The board will appoint a new director next week.

CONTEXTUAL

The committee decided to appoint a neutral mediator to help resolve the dispute between the two departments.

COMPLEX

Under the terms of the new constitution, the president has the power to appoint senior judges, though these selections must be ratified by a majority vote in the senate.

Synonyms
Origin

From Middle English apointen, borrowed from Old French apointier (“to prepare, arrange, lean, place”) (French appointer (“to give a salary, refer a cause”)), from Late Latin appunctō (“to bring back to the point, restore, to fix the point in a controversy, or the points in an agreement”); Latin ad + punctum (“a point”). See point.

Usage

The verb is transitive and takes a direct object. It is often followed by 'as' or 'to' when specifying the role or position.

Pitfall

They appointed him as the manager positionThey appointed him to the manager positionWhen referring to the specific job title or role, use 'as' (e.g., 'as manager') or 'to' (e.g., 'to the position').

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