assignee, ppl. a. and n.
(æsɪˈniː)
Also 5 asigne, assygne, 5–6 assigne.
[a. OF. a(s)signé, pa. pple. of assigner to assign. assign n.2 and assignee both represent the ME. assigne; in the former the final -e has become mute in popular use, in the latter it has been retained in legal use through the influence of law French, and at length refashioned as -ee. (The 15th c. instances of assigne belong equally to assign n.2)]
A. ppl. a. Assigned, appointed.
| 1494 Fabyan vii. 488 Chargynge his lordes with theyr assygnes sowdyours, to mete with hym..at the cytie of Arras. |
B. n.
1. One who is appointed to act for another; a deputy, agent, or representative. = assign n.2 1.
| 1419 H. Stafford in Ellis Orig. Lett. iii. 28. I. 65 Swych as ȝe left assigne of ȝoures. 1494 Fabyan vii. 316 If the cytie were not by kynge John, or his assygneys, rescowyd. c 1600 Norden Spec. Brit., Cornw. (1728) 65 A howse..occupied by the assignees of the Bishop of Exon. 1713 Steele Englishm. No. 15. 99 To Nestor Ironside, Esq.; or in his absence to the Englishman, his Assignee. 1809 Wellington in Gurwood Disp. V. 229 That the assignee is the real agent of the party claiming the debt. |
2. One to whom a right or property is legally transferred or made over; = assign n.2 2.
| 1467 Bury Wills (1850) 47 To his heyrys and assigneis for euermoore. 1613 E. Kirke's Will in Spenser's Wks. (1882) III. Introd. 113 The saide Richard his heires and Assignees. Ibid., To haue and to houlde to her and to her Assignes. 1768 Blackstone Comm. II. 327 In assignments he parts with the whole property, and the assignee stands to all intents and purposes in the place of the assignor. 1876 Digby Real Prop. x. §1. 380 The assignee of the lease has the same interest as the lessee (his assignor). |
3. assignees in bankruptcy: those to whom the management, realization, and distribution of a bankrupt's estate is committed, on behalf of the creditors.
| 1687 Lond. Gaz. No. 2294/4 Several of the Creditors..nominated Assignees. 1768 Blackstone Comm. II. 480 Assignees, or persons to whom the bankrupt's estate shall be assigned, and in whom it shall be vested for the benefit of the creditors. 1843 Mill Logic vi. ix. §5 The official assignees in bankruptcy. |
4. A convict assigned as unpaid servant to a colonial settler. Hist.
| 1843 Penny Cycl. XXV. 139/2 It is comparatively difficult to obtain another assignee,—easy to obtain a hired servant. |