the definition for assignation

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• assignation

an appointment for a meeting, especially a lover's secret rendezvous.

the act of assigning ; assignment .

Origin of assignation

Other words from assignation.

• re·as·sig·na·tion, noun

Words that may be confused with assignation

• assignment , assignation

Words Nearby assignation

• assiduously
• assigned counsel
• assigned risk
• assigned sex

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use assignation in a sentence

One can see an assignation end hopelessly, another can see it freighted with possibility.

Pros: Getting to picture yourself gliding efficiently through town, perhaps en route to a snowy assignation .

Leave them alone for half an hour, and they will consummate the assignation in a hall closet or a public park.

The picture turned his private assignation into a spectacle for all the world—and his wife—to see.

No girl would make an assignation at that hour just to tell a man that she intended to meet him again the next day.

I had an assignation with her here, but your coming spoiled my sport.

I warrant you have made an assignation to instruct some lady in the mathematics.

Indeed, it was chiefly upon that account that the assignation had been fixed so late.

She was convinced that the writing was Harry's, but whom could the assignation be intended for?

British Dictionary definitions for assignation

/ ( ˌæsɪɡˈneɪʃən ) /

a secret or forbidden arrangement to meet, esp one between lovers

the act of assigning; assignment

law , mainly Scot another word for assignment

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Definition of 'assignation'

• assignation

assignation in British English

Assignation in american english, examples of 'assignation' in a sentence assignation, trends of assignation.

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• assign staff
• assigned counsel
• assigned randomly
• assigned risk
• All ENGLISH words that begin with 'A'

Related terms of assignation

• house of assignation

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Definition of assignation noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

assignation

• rumours about his secret assignations with a mystery woman

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English pronunciation of assignation

Assignation.

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(English pronunciations of assignation from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus and from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary , both sources © Cambridge University Press)

Word of the Day

read something over/ through

to read something quickly from the beginning to the end, especially to find mistakes

I’d give my right arm for it: ways of saying ‘want’

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assignation

• 1.1 Etymology
• 1.2 Pronunciation
• 1.3.1 Usage notes
• 1.3.2 Derived terms
• 1.3.3 Translations
• 1.4 Anagrams
• 2.1 Etymology
• 2.2 Pronunciation
• 2.3.1 Related terms
• 2.4 Further reading

English [ edit ]

Etymology [ edit ].

From Middle English assignacioun , from Old French assignacion , from Latin assīgnātiō .

Pronunciation [ edit ]

• IPA ( key ) : /æsɪɡˈneɪʃən/

Noun [ edit ]

assignation ( countable and uncountable , plural assignations )

• 1714 , Alexander Pope , “ The Rape of the Lock ”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope , volume I, London: [ … ] W [ illiam ] Bowyer , for Bernard Lintot ,   [ … ] , published 1717 , →OCLC , canto III: While nymphs take treats, or assignations give.
• 1749 , [John Cleland ], “ (Please specify the letter or volume) ”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [ Fanny Hill ], London: [ … ] G. Fenton [ i.e. , Fenton and Ralph Griffiths ]   [ … ] , →OCLC : As soon as Mr. Barville saw me, he got up, with a visible air of pleasure and surprize, and saluting me, asked Mrs. Cole if it was possible that so fine and delicate a creature would voluntarily submit to such sufferings and rigours as were the subject of his assignation .
• 1986 , John le Carré , A Perfect Spy : What assignations followed we can never know, except that, according to Morrie, Rick did once boast that there was more than cake and lemon barley waiting for him up at The Glades when he delivered the church magazine.
• 1996 , David Foster Wallace , Infinite Jest   [ … ] , Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Little, Brown and Company , →ISBN , page 30 : ‘That you could dare to imagine we’d fail conversationally to countenance certain weekly shall we say maternal … assignations with a certain unnamed bisexual bassoonist in the Albertan Secret Guard’s tactical-bands unit?’
• 1659 , T[itus] Livius [ i.e. , Livy ], “ (please specify the book number) ”, in Philemon Holland , transl., The Romane Historie   [ … ] , London: [ … ] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge,   [ … ] , →OCLC : This order being taken in the senate, as touching the appointment and assignation of those provinces.
• A making over by transfer of title ; assignment .

Usage notes [ edit ]

Modern usage confines the word to mean an agreed-upon place for illicit sex, but earlier usage is broader, and considerably more innocent.

Derived terms [ edit ]

• house of assignation

Translations [ edit ]

Anagrams [ edit ].

• saginations

French [ edit ]

From Old French assignacion , from Latin assīgnātiō .

• IPA ( key ) : /a.si.ɲa.sjɔ̃/

assignation   f ( plural assignations )

• ( law ) summons , subpoena

Related terms [ edit ]

Further reading [ edit ].

• “ assignation ”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [ Digitized Treasury of the French Language ] , 2012.

| Grammarist

An assignment is a task given to a specific person or group to complete. It can also mean the act of assigning . In some legal fields it can refer to the transferring of ownership of property.

An assignation is the act of assigning or the actual assignment. But it also means a secret rendezvous for lovers, most especially for affairs or illicit relationships. Sometimes this is used to mean a secret meeting or a regularly set meeting, but it would be confusing in this sense to those who are familiar with the standard meaning (see the example below). As a mass noun it can refer to something as being owned or belonging to something else.

Examples The choice has not been made, but it appears the team is more likely to option Orlando to Omaha, rather than designate Dyson for assignment. [ The Kansas City Star ] According to a criminal complaint, Ms Dale, 21, told a detective that Ethan refused to complete the assignment for the first time on 24 February. [ International Business Times ] I vaguely remember seeing images of Delhiites being water-hosed by police while rioting for “Nirbhaya,” an assignation that means “Fearless One,” given to Pandey by the media as authorities would not release her name. [ Huffington Post ] The rare exceptions include a scene in which Shulem follows his wife to an assignation with Félix, slapping his romantic rival to the sidewalk like a petulant schoolboy. [ The Washington Post ] Over the past few months, RPG Enterprises chairman Harsh Goenka, has been having an assignation every other Friday for a few hours. [ India Times ]

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Browse Dictionary

Meaning of 'assignation', meaning of 'assignation' (webster dictionary).

Meaning of 'assignation' (Princeton's WordNet)

• the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives is based on the relative population of each state

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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.

Example Sentences

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'assignment.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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 6 Sep. 2023.

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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• assignation

ASSIGNATION, Scotch law. The ceding or yielding a thing to another of which intimation must be made.

• assignation of writs
• conveyancing
• hypothecation
• incorporeal property
• asportation
• Assassination
• Assault and Battery
• assault by penetration
• assault penalty
• assault with a deadly weapon, sexual assault with a weapon
• Assaulted by bus driver at ATM, any recourse?
• Assaulting a police officer, counterclaims.
• Assertory covenant
• Assessed Valuation
• Assessment of damages
• Assets Recovery Agency
• Asseveration
• Assigned Account
• Assigned Risk
• Assigned Risk Plan
• Assignment for Benefit of Creditors
• Assignment of dower
• Assignment of errors
• Assises of jerusalem
• Assistance, Writ of
• Assize of mort d' ancestor
• Assize, or Assise
• Associate Justice
• associated company
• association
• Association of Chief Police Officers
• Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland
• Association of Police Authorities
• assign XXX routing
• assign zone restriction lists
• Assign-and-Estimate Scheduling Algorithm
• assignability
• assignable cause
• Assignable Contract
• Assignable Contracts
• Assignable Square Foot/Feet
• assignablely
• assignational
• assignations
• Assignatsii
• Assigned Altitude Deviation
• Assigned Amount Unit
• assigned arrival time
• Assigned Beacon Code
• Assigned Board Member
• Assigned Capital
• Assigned Channel Number
• Assigned Claim
• Assigned Claims
• Assigned Commisioner Ruling
• assigned dealer
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Assignation vs. Assignment

Difference Between Assignation and Assignment

Definitions, assignation ➦, assignment ➦.

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• assignation

as·sig·na·tion

As•sig•na•tion.

• appointment
• apportioning
• apportionment
• attribution
• distribution
• house agent
• house arrest
• House of assignation
• housebreaker
• asseverator
• Asseveratory
• assibilation
• Assideanism
• assiduously
• assiduousness
• assignability
• assignations
• assigned risk
• Assignment of dower
• assimilability
• assimilable
• assimilating
• assimilation
• assimilationism
• assimilationist
• assimilative
• assimilator
• assimilatory
• Assimulation
• Assiniboine
• Assiniboine Mount
• assignable cause
• Assignable Contract
• Assignable Contracts
• Assignable Square Foot/Feet
• assignablely
• assignation of writs
• assignational
• Assignatsii
• Assigned Account
• Assigned Altitude Deviation
• Assigned Amount Unit
• assigned arrival time
• Assigned Beacon Code
• Assigned Board Member
• Assigned Capital
• Assigned Channel Number
• Assigned Claim
• Assigned Claims
• Assigned Commisioner Ruling
• assigned dealer
• Assigned Dealers
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