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assign

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

6 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "assign", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "assign" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "assign" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

assign is aEnglishverb. It means: To designate or set apart (something) for some purpose. Pronounced /əˈsaɪn/. Often confused with assist and assigned.

Key facts for assign
PropertyValue
Headwordassign
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/əˈsaɪn/
Letters6
Frequency rank#11,836
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of assign in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for assign is 6 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈsaɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,836 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for assign, with forms such as "asign", "asisgn", and "assgin". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "assist", "assigned", "Asian", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Latin signō Latin assignōlbor. Old French assignerbor. Middle English assignen English assign From Middle English assignen, from Old French assigner, asigner, from Latin a… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is assign, spelled A-S-S-I-G-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To designate or set apart (something) for some purpose.
  2. 2
    To appoint or select (someone) for some office.
  3. 3
    To allot or give (something) as a task.
  4. 4
    To attribute or sort (something) into categories.
  5. 5
    To attribute or sort (something) into categories.
  6. 6
    To transfer (property, a legal right, etc.) from one person to another.
  7. 7
    To give (a value) to a variable.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Latin signō Latin assignōlbor. Old French assignerbor. Middle English assignen English assign From Middle English assignen, from Old French assigner, asigner, from Latin assignō, from ad- + signō (“mark, sign”).

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: asign,asisgn,assgin,assiggn,assignn,assing,sasign

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for assign

Misspelling Variants of "assign"

asign5asisgn6assgin6assiggn7assignn7assing6sasign6
Misspelling Variants of "assign"

Frequency rank: #11,836 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "assign"?
"assign" is spelled A-S-S-I-G-N. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈsaɪn/.
What does "assign" mean?
As a verb, "assign" means: To designate or set apart (something) for some purpose.
What words are commonly confused with "assign"?
"assign" is commonly confused with "assist", "assigned", "Asian". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "assign"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "assign" is /əˈsaɪn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "assign"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Latin signō Latin assignōlbor. Old French assignerbor. Middle English assignen English assign From Middle English assignen, from Old French assigner, asigner, fr... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter A in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.