▪ I. assign, v.
(əˈsaɪn)
Forms: 3–6 assygn(e, 3–7 assigne, 4 a sign, asegne, asingne, 4–6 assine, 5 asyne, a-cyne, asigne, assyngne, 5–6 assyng(e, 6 assyne, asein, 7 essign, 5– assign. Aphet. 5 syne.
[a. OF. a(s)signe-r, a(s)siner, a(s)sene-r:—L. ad-, assignāre, f. ad to + signāre to make a sign, f. signum sign.]
Prim. sign. To mark out to.
I. To allot, appoint, authoritatively determine.
1. trans. To allot as a share, portion, or allowance (to); to appoint, apportion, make over.
| 1340 Alex. & Dind. 321 We han a sertaine somme asingned of ȝerus. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 117 To every monthe..of signes twelve He hath..Assigned one in speciall. 1513 Douglas æneis iii. ii. 140 Assynging ilk ane propir houss and aucht. 1570 J. Phillip in Farr S.P. (1845) II. 529 And vnto his elected churche A pleadge of loue assinde. 1599 Greene Poems (1861) 317 By 'signing want and poverty thy share. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 231 The work which here God hath assign'd us. 1794 S. Williams Hist. Vermont 152 The most laborious services were assigned to the female. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. i. 130 Has a small space for garden⁓ground assign'd. |
2. To transfer or formally make over to another. In modern Eng. Law the appropriate word to express the transference of personal property (including chattels real), e.g. leaseholds, railway shares, furniture, as distinguished from real property.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 314 Wat thyng he adde assygned ys tueye bretheren al so. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 82 Þei..þat occupien men toward her end a bout..assining of þer goodis. 1522 Bury Wills (1850) 117 The residue of all my goodes..I assign to myn executors to pay dettes. 1660 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 369/1 He essigned the School to Aristaeus. 1748 Johnson in Boswell (1831) I. 167, I assign to him the right of copy of an Imitation of the Tenth Satire of Juvenal. 1862 Hook Lives Abps. II. ii. 88 Some land which had been newly assigned to the monastery. |
3. To allot (a place) to a person; to appoint or set it apart for a purpose.
| 1393 Gower Conf. II. 10 But me was never assigned place. c 1400 Destr. Troy ii. 508 And he assignet hir a seite. 1439 E.E. Wills (1882) 116 My body to be beryed..yn suche place as I haue assyngned. 1622 in Fortesc. Papers 189 To have places assigned where your marchants might erect forts. 1762 Goldsm. Cit. W. xxxiii. (1837) 131, I was assigned my place on a cushion on the floor. 1855 Prescott Philip II, i. vii. (1857) 116 He assigned to his men their several posts. |
4. a. To allot or appoint to a person (those that shall perform certain functions in relation to him).
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4189 Til hym sal assygned be A gude angelle. 1350 Will. Palerne 580 Þenne had þis menskful Melior maydenes fele asegned hire to serue. c 1400 Destr. Troy iv. 1136 With a soume of soudiours assignet vs. 1506 Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W.) iv. v. 177 Unto them assygne not an other confessour. a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 52 The Lords Assigned us five very worthy Lawyers. 1826 Scott Woodst. (1832) 180 England will not long endure the rulers which these bad times have assigned her. |
b. To make over a convict as an unpaid servant.
| 1827 P. Cunningham Two Years in N.S. Wales II. xxviii. 188 Convict servants are now assigned on application being made for them in a printed form to the land board. 1837 [see assigned]. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXV. 138/2 Female convicts were assigned..in the capacity of domestic servants. |
† 5. To appoint authoritatively, prescribe (a course of action). Obs.
| c 1485 Digby Myst. ii. 214 Make thi curse As I shall assyng the by myn aduysse. 1533 More Answ. Poysoned Bk. Wks. 1048/2 They assygned him..what maner a miracle thei wold haue him do. c 1550 Lusty Juv. in Hazl. Dodsley II. 59 Thou must love..thy neighbour as thyself, because he hath so assigned. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 103 Simeon Sethi..assigneth them rather to be eaten in Winter time. |
6. To appoint, designate, ordain, depute (a person) for an office, duty, or fate. Obs. exc. in Law.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 502 He assigneth the bissop of Winchestre ther to. c 1470 Three 15th C. Chron. (1880) 72 The Duke of Exceter was syned for kepe the see ayenes the Erle of Warwike. 1489 Plumpton Corr. 81, I have assigneed my servant..to levy and receive such rents. a 1547 Earl of Surrey æneis ii. (R.) Assigning me To the altar. 1712 Budgell Spect. No. 404 ¶7 They assign themselves to what they are not fit for. 1768 Blackstone Comm. I. 482 If the founder has appointed and assigned any other person to be visitor. |
† 7. To appoint, direct, send (a person) to a place; to consign. Obs.
| 1413 Lydg. Pylgr. Sowle v. xiv. 80 Assignyng his company, euerych in to his place. 1567 Drant Horace Epist. i. vii. D v, At length to bed to take a nap he, fraighted, was assynde. 1611 Bible 2 Sam. xi. 16 He assigned Vriah vnto a place where hee knewe that valiant men were. |
8. a. To fix, settle, determine, or authoritatively appoint (a time or temporal limit).
| c 1305 St. Swithin in E.E.P. (1862) 46 Hi assignede a dai þerto. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 220 The day of bataylle..was assygned on bothe partyes. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 42 We would assigne God his tyme. 1708 Swift Predict. 1708 Wks. 1755 II. i. 153 In this month likewise an ambassador will die in London; but I cannot assign the day. 1883 J. Gilmour Mongols xvii. 202 A hell to the duration of which no period is assigned. |
† b. To fix the time and place of (a meeting).
| 1558 Forrest Grysilde Sec. 89 A Cowrte he assigned at Dunstaple, To which was summoned goode Grysildis. |
† 9. To make an assignation or appointment with (a person) to do a thing. Obs.
| 1470–85 Malory Arthur (1817) x. ii, I assigne you to mete me in the medowe. Ibid. (1816) I. 187 And there this night I had assigned my love and lady to have slept with me. |
10. To determine, lay down as a thing ascertained.
| 1664 Power Exp. Philos. ii. 93 Who all assign its Altitude to be but about 27 inches. 1772–84 Cook Voy. (1790) IV. 92 Who sailed round it, and assigned its true position. 1817 Chalmers Astron. Disc. i. (1852) 24 Who shall assign a limit to the discoveries of future ages? |
II. To point out, show.
11. a. To point out exactly, designate, specify.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. iv. 126 And til seynt Iames be souȝte þere I shal assigne. 1533 More Debell. Salem Wks. 952/1 Folk whom I neither assigne bi name, nor as yet know not who they be. 1660 Barrow Euclid i. xxxiv. Schol., To draw a parallel to a right line given, thro' the point assigned. 1714 Grove Spect. No. 601 ¶2, I shall therefore endeavour to assign some of the principal Checks upon this generous Propension. c 1854 Stanley Sinai & Pal. v. 251 The special locality which Jewish tradition has assigned for the place. |
b. spec. in Law.
| 1672 Manley Cowell's Interpr. s.v., To assigne false Judgment..is to declare how and where the Judgment is unjust. To assigne Waste is to show wherein especially the Waste is committed. |
† 12. To exhibit, display, present. Obs.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xv, The faderis herte is sore greuyd, yf eny rebelnesse is assignid [presentatur] in his children. |
III. To ascribe, attribute.
13. To ascribe, attribute, or refer, as belonging to or originating in.
| 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Cyrurg., The memory of the herte..is assygned in the partye that is vnder the ioynt that is vnder the arme pytte. 1835 Macready Remin. I. 461 The various spots assigned to the words and actions of our Saviour. a 1849 Hor. Smith Addr. Mummy iii, Tell us..To whom should we assign the Sphinx's fame. 1875 Scrivener Lect. Grk. Test. 9 Whose date may be assigned with certainty to the fourth and fifth centuries. |
14. To ascribe (a reason) to or as accounting for anything.
| 1489 Caxton Faytes of Armes iv. vii. 246 Many good raisons that dyuine right assigneth thereto. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. IV. 383 Sundry reasons are assigned of Mr. Cartwright's silence. 1769 Junius Lett. xxiv. 132 To justify my assigning that motive to his behaviour. 1792 Anecd. W. Pitt I. v. 122 No reason can be assigned for the Queen of Hungary's refusing the terms. |
15. To bring forward, allege, offer, suggest (something as a reason, etc.).
| a 1665 J. Goodwin Filled w. the Spirit (1867) 380 This is that which we now assign for a reason. 1780 Coxe Russ. Disc. 42 They assigned the insecurity of the roads as their reason for coming..by sea. 1790 Paley Hor. Paul. i. §3, I cannot assign a supposition of forgery. |
† IV. [f. as- = a- prefix 11 + sign v.] To sign. Obs.
| 1563 Abp. Sandys in Strype Ann. Ref. I. xxxv. 389 The bill..was..sent up in the docket to be assigned by the Queen. 1633 H. Cogan Pinto's Voy. vi. 15 A safe conduct, written and assigned with thine own hand. |
▪ II. † assign, n.1 Obs.
[see different senses.]
1. Appointment, command. [f. assign v.]
| 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. ii. xliii, Soon as the gate opes by the Kings assigne. |
2. A sign, portent. [f. sign n.; cf. assign v. iv.]
| 1601 Weever Mirr. Mart. C viij b, To the Frenchmen, this assigne was sent, Disaster, fatall, inauspitious. |
¶ for design.
| a 1641 Sir J. Finett Philoxenis (1656) 50 His so gracious notice and furtherance of their assignes. |
▪ III. assign, n.2
(əˈsaɪn)
Also 5–7 assigne.
[ME. assigne (three syllables), a. F. assigné, pa. pple. of assigner to assign, has split into two forms in mod.E. assign and assignee. In the former, ME. -e (like final -e from other sources) became mute in 15th c., and disappeared in mod.E. (Cf. avow(e, F. avoué:—L. advocātus; costive, F. costivé:—L. constipātus, etc.) In the latter, final -e was preserved through the influence of law French, and was at length analogically written -ee. (Cf. avowee, advowee, beside avow(e.) The 15th c. assigne might represent either pronunciation, and belongs equally to assign and assignee. Cf. assignee.]
† 1. One who is appointed to act for another, a deputy, agent, or representative; = assignee 1. Obs.
| 1526 Ord. R. Househ. 224 Their servants, factors, or assignes. 1594 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. (1863) 413 [We] are but delegates or assignes to giue men possession of his graces. 1714 Fr. Bk. of Rates 31 As the Owner, or his Deputy, or Assign shall desire. |
2. One to whom a property or right is legally transferred; = assignee 2. Esp. in the phrase heirs and assigns: see quot. 1865.
| c 1450 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 24 To thyne heyres & assygnes alle-so. 1590 Swinburn Testaments 74 To him and his assignes for terme of life. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 200 ¶ 11 Made payable to..her Assigns. 1844 Williams Real Prop. Law (1877) 64 Thus, a purchaser from him in his lifetime, and a devisee under his will, are alike assigns. 1865 Nicholls Britton ii. xvi. I. 312 It was in favour of bastards that the word assigns [F. assignez] was first devised. |
† 3. An appurtenance, a belonging. Obs. rare.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. v. ii. 157 Sixe French Rapiers and Poniards, with their assignes as Girdle, Hangers, or so. |