Where does “assign” come from?

Assign comes from Middle English assignen, from Old French assigner, from Latin assignāre meaning "to allot or appoint," formed from the prefix ad- and the root sek- meaning "to cut or divide."

assign (English): To designate or set apart something for some...

Definitions

  1. To designate or set apart something for some...

Ancestry of “assign”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishassignento assign, allot
2Old Frenchassignerto assign
3Latinassignōto appoint to, assign, distribute, allot, allocate
4Latinad-to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it...
5Latinīn-un-, non-, not
6Latinînin, at, on, upon, from (space)
7Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
8Proto-Italicenin
9Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

Words derived from “assign

Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én
assign — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer