Assign
/əˈsaɪn/
verbBeginner🔥Very CommonAction
1 meaning1 question
Definitions
1
To give someone a particular task or job to do.
/əˈsaɪn/
verbneutralBeginner
Action
To allocate or designate something.
The professor assigned a difficult essay.
💡 Simply: To give a job or task.
More Examples
2
We were assigned seats on the plane.
How It's Used
Education
"The teacher assigned homework for the weekend."
Workplace
"The manager assigned each employee a specific task."
From Old French assigner, from Latin assignare "to mark out, allot," from ad- "to" + signare "to mark."
The word 'assign' has been used in similar senses since the Middle Ages, predominantly within legal and administrative contexts.
Memory tip
Think of 'signing' something over to someone else.
Word Origin
Original meaning
"to mark, to allot"
Base: assign
assign a taskassign a valueassign a dateassign responsibilities
Common misspellings
asineassinasign
Practice
Usage
40%Spoken
60%Written