# assign

Pronunciation: say "uh-SYN" /əˈsaɪn/

## Verb

1. To allot or give something to a person or group as a task or duty.
   - Simple: To give a job or task to a person or group.
   - _Managers assign tasks based on each member's strengths._
   - _The editor assigned three articles to the new reporter._
2. To designate or set something apart for a particular purpose.
   - Simple: To set something aside for a special use.
   - _The city will assign part of the budget to road repairs._
   - _Each color was assigned a specific meaning on the map._
3. To appoint or select a person for an office or position.
   - Simple: To choose someone for a job or position.
   - _The court will assign a lawyer to defendants who cannot afford one._
   - _She was assigned to the embassy in Rome last spring._
4. To make another person the legal holder of property, a right, or a similar interest.
   - Simple: To give your property or rights to another person under the law.
   - _Under the contract, either party may assign its rights to a third party._
   - _The author assigned the copyright to the publishing house._
5. To give a particular value to a variable.
   - Simple: To give a value to a variable in a program.
   - _The function assigns the result to a temporary variable._
   - _You can assign multiple values to an array in one statement._
6. To classify something by placing it in a particular category, as a species in a family or a case in a priority level.
   - Simple: To put something into a group or class.
   - _Biologists assign newly found species to existing families._
   - _Each case was assigned a priority level by the triage nurse._
7. To categorize a person as belonging to the male or female sex, typically at birth.
   - Simple: To record whether a baby is male or female, usually at birth.
   - _Hospitals assign sex at birth based on visible anatomy._
   - _The child was assigned male at birth._

## Noun

8. A person to whom property or a right is transferred; an assignee.
   - Simple: A person who is given rights or property by someone else.
   - _The agreement binds the company, its successors, and assigns._
   - _As the assign, she assumed every obligation the original holder had carried._

## Noun

9. A thing that relates or belongs to something else; an appurtenance. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: An extra thing that belongs to or goes with something else.
   - _The estate, with each assign thereto, was granted to the abbey._
   - _They reckoned the barn among the manor's assigns._
10. An assignment given to someone, or an appointment to a position. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A task or duty given to someone.
   - _He grumbled at the difficult assign laid upon him._
   - _Their assigns came sealed with the king's mark._
11. A design, plan, or purpose behind an action. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A plan or reason behind doing something.

## Origin

From Middle English assignen, from Old French assigner, from Latin assignō, formed from ad- plus signō ("to mark, sign").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/assign (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).