Assign

How to spell assign

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce assign

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does assign mean?

1. verbTo allot a task, role, or resource to a particular person or purpose.

Assign in a sentence

• The manager will assign the new project to her most experienced team.

• Please assign a parking space to each visiting contractor.

Where does assign come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb assignare, which meant 'to mark out' or 'to allot', built from the prefix ad-, meaning 'to' or 'toward', and signare, 'to mark', itself from signum, a 'mark' or 'sign'. The literal idea was to set something apart by putting a mark on it, which is how the modern sense of allotting a task, share, or property to someone developed. English took it up in the 1300s through Old French assigner, in legal contexts about transferring rights or property. The buried 'sign' is the key to the spelling: although the g is silent here, it belongs to the same family as 'signal', 'signature', and 'design', and remembering that hidden 'sign' explains the otherwise puzzling silent g. The double s reflects the assimilation of the Latin ad- prefix before the s of signare.

How the word is built

• as- (form of ad-: to, toward)
• sign (from signum: mark, sign)