What does "assign" mean?

1. (to give a task) to give someone a specific job, duty, or piece of work to complete. 2. (to appoint to a role) to choose someone for a particular position or office. 3. (to designate for a purpose) to set something aside for a particular use, such as a seat, a room, or a time. 4. (to attribute or categorize) to decide that something belongs in a certain group or has a certain quality. 5. (to give a value) to give a specific value or piece of data to a variable in a computer program. 6. (to transfer rights) to legally give your property or rights to someone else. 7. (a person given rights) a person who is given property or legal rights by someone else.

How do you use "assign"?

Often follows the pattern 'assign something to someone' or 'assign someone something'. Almost exclusively used in the plural form 'assigns' within legal contracts.

assign

v. · n.

US //əˈsaɪn// UK //ɐsˈaɪn// as·sign

1 to give a task (v.)
B1 Intermediate General-service

to give someone a specific job, duty, or piece of work to complete.

to allot or distribute a task or responsibility to a specific person or group.

Example

The teacher will assign a new project to the class every Monday morning.

Example

The department head decided to assign the most complex accounts to the senior consultants to ensure the transition went smoothly.

Usage

Often follows the pattern 'assign something to someone' or 'assign someone something'.
2 to appoint to a role (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Formal

to choose someone for a particular position or office.

to designate or appoint an individual to a specific post, office, or functional role.

Example

The company will assign a new manager to the Tokyo branch next month.

Example

Following the restructuring, the board voted to assign a dedicated liaison to handle all communications with the regulatory body.
- dismiss
- remove

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3 to designate for a purpose (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate General-service

to set something aside for a particular use, such as a seat, a room, or a time.

to designate or set apart something for a specific purpose or recipient.

Example

The host will assign a seat to every guest before the dinner starts.

Example

The urban planning committee agreed to assign a significant portion of the budget to the restoration of the historic waterfront district.
- reserve
- allocate
- set aside
4 to attribute or categorize (v.)
C1 Advanced Academic

to decide that something belongs in a certain group or has a certain quality.

to attribute a quality or to sort an item into a specific category or class.

Example

It is difficult to assign a specific date to these ancient stone tools.

Example

Biologists struggled to assign the newly discovered species to an existing genus due to its unique genetic markers.

Teacher's tip

Common in academic writing when discussing the origin or classification of objects or ideas.
5 to give a value (v.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Technical Computing

to give a specific value or piece of data to a variable in a computer program.

to set or give a value to a variable or parameter within a computational context.

Example

You need to assign a number to the variable before you run the code.

Example

The script is designed to assign a unique identification string to every user who logs into the portal for the first time.
- set
- input
6 to transfer rights (v.)
C1 Advanced Formal Technical Law

to legally give your property or rights to someone else.

to legally transfer property, rights, or interests from one party to another.

Example

The author decided to assign the film rights of her book to the studio.

Example

Under the terms of the contract, the tenant may not assign the lease to a third party without written consent from the landlord.
7 a person given rights (n.)
C2 Proficiency Formal Technical Law

a person who is given property or legal rights by someone else.

a person to whom a right or property is legally transferred.

Example

The document was signed by the owner and his assigns.

Example

The agreement remains binding upon the original parties as well as their respective heirs and assigns.

Usage

Almost exclusively used in the plural form 'assigns' within legal contracts.
- assignee
- successor

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Latin signō Latin assignōlbor. Old French assignerbor. Middle English assignen English assign From Middle English assignen, from Old French assigner, asigner, from Latin assignō, from ad- + signō (“mark, sign”).