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assignment

n.
US //əˈsaɪnmənt// UK //ɐsˈaɪnmənt// as·sign·ment
  1. 1 school or university work (n.)
    B1 Intermediate Education

    a piece of work or a task given to students as part of their studies.

    a specific task or project allocated to students, typically contributing to their final grade.

    Example

    I have to finish my history assignment before the weekend starts.

    Example

    The professor distributed the final assignment, which required students to conduct original field research and present their findings in a formal report.
  2. 2 a work task (n.)
    B1 Intermediate

    a job or duty that you are given to do by your boss or company.

    a specific task or duty assigned to an individual or group in a professional context.

    Example

    Her first assignment in the new job was to organize the annual conference.

    Example

    The journalist accepted a dangerous assignment in a conflict zone, knowing the risks involved in reporting from the front lines.
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  1. 3 the act of giving a task (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Academic

    the act of giving someone a particular job, position, or category.

    the process of allocating a specific role, responsibility, or classification to a person or object.

    Example

    The assignment of roles for the play took several hours of discussion.

    Example

    The efficient assignment of resources is critical to the success of any large-scale infrastructure project.
  2. 4 transfer of rights (n.)
    C1 Advanced Formal Technical Law

    the legal transfer of a right, property, or benefit to another person.

    the formal transfer of a legal right, interest, or title from one party to another.

    Example

    The assignment of the lease must be signed by both the old and new tenants.

    Example

    The contract includes a clause prohibiting the assignment of intellectual property rights without prior written consent from the board of directors.
  3. 5 setting a variable value (n.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Computing

    the act of giving a specific value to a variable in a computer program.

    a statement or operation that sets or resets the value stored in a storage location denoted by a variable name.

    Example

    The programmer used an assignment to change the player's score to zero.

    Example

    The script failed because an assignment was attempted on a constant variable that had already been initialized.
Origin

From Middle English assignement, from Old French assignement. By surface analysis, assign + -ment.

Word family
Idioms1 entry

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