the word assignment comes from

assign (v.)

c. 1300, "to transfer, convey, bequeath (property); appoint (to someone a task to be done); order, direct (someone to do something); fix, settle, determine; appoint or set (a time); indicate, point out," from Old French assigner "assign, set (a date, etc.); appoint legally; allot" (13c.), from Latin assignare / adsignare "to mark out, to allot by sign, assign, award," from ad "to" (see ad- ) + signare "make a sign," from signum "identifying mark, sign" (see sign (n.)). Its original use was in legal transfers of personal property. Related: Assigned ; assigning .

Entries linking to assign

early 13c., signe , "gesture or motion of the hand," especially one meant to express thought or convey an idea, from Old French signe "sign, mark," from Latin signum "identifying mark, token, indication, symbol; proof; military standard, ensign; a signal, an omen; sign in the heavens, constellation."

According to Watkins, literally "standard that one follows," from PIE *sekw-no- , from root *sekw- (1) "to follow." De Vaan has it from PIE *sekh-no- "cut," from PIE root *sek- "to cut" He writes: "The etymological appurtenance to seco 'to cut' implies a semantic shift of *sek-no- 'what is cut out', 'carved out' > 'sign'." But he also also compares Hebrew sakkin , Aramaic sakkin "slaughtering-knife," and mentions a theory that "both words are probably borrowed from an unknown third source."

It has ousted native token . By c. 1300 as "an indication of some coming event." The meaning "a visible mark or device having some special meaning" is recorded from late 13c.; that of "miraculous manifestation, a miracle demonstrating divine power" is from c. 1300. In reference to one of the 12 divisions of the zodiac, from mid-14c.

The sense of "inscribed board with a characteristic device attached to the front of an inn, shop, etc.," to distinguish it from others is recorded from mid-15c. The meaning "indicator, token or signal of some condition" (late 13c.) is behind sign of the times (1520s). The meaning "conventional mark or symbol in place of words" (in music, mathematics, etc., as in plus sign) is by 1550s. In some uses, the word probably is a shortening of ensign .

paper money of the French Revolution, 1790, from French assignat , from Latin assignatus , past participle of assignare / adsignare (see assign ). Based on the security of confiscated Church lands, it was over-issued and the value quickly deteriorated.

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updated on May 10, 2019

Dictionary entries near assign

assignation

assimilable

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Definition of assignment

task , duty , job , chore , stint , assignment mean a piece of work to be done.

task implies work imposed by a person in authority or an employer or by circumstance.

duty implies an obligation to perform or responsibility for performance.

job applies to a piece of work voluntarily performed; it may sometimes suggest difficulty or importance.

chore implies a minor routine activity necessary for maintaining a household or farm.

stint implies a carefully allotted or measured quantity of assigned work or service.

assignment implies a definite limited task assigned by one in authority.

Examples of assignment in a Sentence

Word history.

see assign entry 1

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing assignment

self - assignment

Dictionary Entries Near assignment

Cite this entry.

“Assignment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assignment. Accessed 18 Nov. 2024.

Legal Definition

Legal definition of assignment, more from merriam-webster on assignment.

Nglish: Translation of assignment for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of assignment for Arabic Speakers

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1.1 Etymology
1.2 Pronunciation
1.3.1 Hyponyms
1.3.2 Derived terms
1.3.3 Translations
1.4 References
2.1 Alternative forms
2.2 Etymology
2.3 Pronunciation
2.4.1 Synonyms
2.5 References

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

Pronunciation

IPA ( key ) : /əˈsaɪnmənt/

Hyphenation: a‧ssign‧ment

Rhymes: -aɪnmənt

assignment ( countable and uncountable , plural assignments )

The act of assigning ; the allocation of a job or a set of tasks . This flow chart represents the assignment of tasks in our committee.
( LGBTQ ) The categorization of persons as belonging to the male or female sex .
An assigned task . The assignment the department gave him proved to be quite challenging.
A position to which someone is assigned. Unbeknownst to Mr Smith, his new assignment was in fact a demotion.
( education ) A task given to students, such as homework or coursework . Mrs Smith gave out our assignments , and said we had to finish them by Monday.
( law ) A transfer of a right or benefit from one person to another. The assignment of the lease has not been finalised yet.
( law ) A document that effects this transfer. Once you receive the assignment in the post, be sure to sign it and send it back as soon as possible.
( programming ) An operation that assigns a value to a variable .
( programming ) : augmented assignment

Derived terms

antiassignment
assignment operator
frequency assignment
misassignment
nonassignment
Procrustean assignment
reassignment
time-assignment speech interpolation
unassignment
understand the assignment

Translations

Alternative forms.

asm ( pseudo-acronym )

From English assignment .

Cantonese ( Jyutping ) : aa 6 saai 1 man 4
Jyutping : aa 6 saai 1 man 4
Yale : ah s ā ai màhn
Cantonese Pinyin : aa 6 saai 1 man 4
Guangdong Romanization : a 6 sai 1 men 4
Sinological IPA ( key ) : /aː²² saːi̯ ⁵⁵ mɐn²¹/
( Hong Kong Cantonese ) assignment ; homework ; coursework ( Classifier : 份 c )
Bauer, Robert S. ( 2021 ) ABC Cantonese-English Comprehensive Dictionary , Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, →ISBN , page 10
English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese