English Reference

Word

assign

Phoneticsas·sign, stress on the second syllable

US/əˈsaɪn/

UK/ɐsˈaɪn/

Definitions

01to give a task

B1 · Intermediate General-service

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

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

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

“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'.

02to appoint to a role

B2 · Upper Intermediate Formal

v. to choose someone for a particular position or office.

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

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

“Following the restructuring, the board voted to assign a dedicated liaison to handle all communications with the regulatory body.”

Antonyms

03to designate for a purpose

B2 · Upper Intermediate General-service

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

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

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

“The urban planning committee agreed to assign a significant portion of the budget to the restoration of the historic waterfront district.”

04to attribute or categorize

C1 · Advanced Academic

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

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

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

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

Teaching tip

Common in academic writing when discussing the origin or classification of objects or ideas.

05to give a value

B2 · Upper Intermediate Computing Technical

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

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

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

“The script is designed to assign a unique identification string to every user who logs into the portal for the first time.”

Synonyms

06to transfer rights

C1 · Advanced Law Formal · Technical

v. to legally give your property or rights to someone else.

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

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

“Under the terms of the contract, the tenant may not assign the lease to a third party without written consent from the landlord.”

07a person given rights

C2 · Proficiency Countable noun Law Formal · Technical

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

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

“The document was signed by the owner and his assigns.”

“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.

Synonyms

assigneesuccessor

Collocations

Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word “assign” in context.

Verb

01. assign role

“The manager will assign a specific role to every team member for the project.”

verb + noun

Adverb

02. assign primarily

“These duties are assigned primarily to the administrative staff.”

verb + adv

03. assign traditionally

“In this culture, these responsibilities are assigned traditionally to the eldest son.”

verb + adv

04. assign typically

“New employees are assigned typically to the orientation department for two weeks.”

verb + adv

05. assign usually

“The teacher assigns usually three chapters of reading for homework every weekend.”

verb + adv

06. randomly assign

“The software will randomly assign each participant to a different test group.”

adv + verb

Real-World Examples

“They also set a grade floor, meaning that teachers cannot assign a score below a certain number, usually 50 or 60 points.”
The Conversation 20 Jul 2026
“Think of it as the fly’s brain assigning a barcode to every smell.”
Ars Technica 3 Sept 2026

Etymology

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”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Word family

VERB

assign(B2)

Domains

LawProgramming

This entry

Exam level
CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.B2 FirstIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.5.5–6.5TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 4.0–4.572–94TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.785–944
Frequency
Frequent
Level
B2 · Upper IntermediateOxford
Updated

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