Etymology

assign

as·sign
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Today it means: To designate or set apart (something) for some purpose. Full definition →

Middle English assignen ← Old French assigner ← Latin assignō
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éd
  2. Proto-Italic*ad
  3. Proto-Italic*ad-
  4. Latinad-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*sek-?
  6. Proto-Italic*segnom
  7. Proto-Italic*segnāō
  8. Latinsignō
  9. Latinassignō
  10. Old Frenchassigner
  11. Middle Englishassignen
  12. English todayassign

From Middle English assignen, from Old French assigner, asigner, from Latin assignō, from ad- + signō (“mark, sign”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.