Library / English Dictionary

ASSIGNMENT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of putting a person into a non-elective position

Example:

the appointment had to be approved by the whole committee

Synonyms:

appointment; assignment; designation; naming

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("assignment" is a kind of...):

conclusion; decision; determination (the act of making up your mind about something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "assignment"):

nomination (the act of officially naming a candidate)

co-optation; co-option (the act of appointing summarily (with or without the appointee's consent))

delegacy (the appointment of a delegate)

ordinance; ordination (the act of ordaining; the act of conferring (or receiving) holy orders)

recognition (designation by the chair granting a person the right to speak in a deliberative body)

Derivation:

assign (give an assignment to (a person) to a post, or assign a task to (a person))

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of distributing something to designated places or persons

Example:

the first task is the assignment of an address to each datum

Synonyms:

assigning; assignment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("assignment" is a kind of...):

distribution (the act of distributing or spreading or apportioning)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "assignment"):

allocation; storage allocation ((computer science) the assignment of particular areas of a magnetic disk to particular data or instructions)

Derivation:

assign (decide as to where something belongs in a scheme)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A duty that you are assigned to perform (especially in the armed forces)

Example:

hazardous duty

Synonyms:

assignment; duty assignment

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("assignment" is a kind of...):

duty (work that you are obliged to perform for moral or legal reasons)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "assignment"):

guard; guard duty; sentry duty; sentry go (the duty of serving as a sentry)

fatigue; fatigue duty (labor of a nonmilitary kind done by soldiers (cleaning or digging or draining or so on))

charge; commission; mission (a special assignment that is given to a person or group)

reassignment (assignment to a different duty)

sea-duty; service abroad; shipboard duty (naval service aboard a ship at sea)

shore duty (naval service at land bases)

Derivation:

assign (give an assignment to (a person) to a post, or assign a task to (a person))

Sense 4

Meaning:

An undertaking that you have been assigned to do (as by an instructor)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("assignment" is a kind of...):

labor; project; task; undertaking (any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "assignment"):

school assignment; schoolwork (a school task performed by a student to satisfy the teacher)

writing assignment; written assignment (an assignment to write something)

Derivation:

assign (select something or someone for a specific purpose)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The instrument by which a claim or right or interest or property is transferred from one person to another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("assignment" is a kind of...):

instrument; legal document; legal instrument; official document ((law) a document that states some contractual relationship or grants some right)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Derivation:

assign (transfer one's right to)

Sense 6

Meaning:

(law) a transfer of property by deed of conveyance

Synonyms:

assignment; grant

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("assignment" is a kind of...):

transferred possession; transferred property (a possession whose ownership changes or lapses)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "assignment"):

apanage; appanage (a grant (by a sovereign or a legislative body) of resources to maintain a dependent member of a ruling family)

land grant (a grant of public land (as to a railway or college))

Derivation:

assign (transfer one's right to)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The process of assigning nonclinical study subjects to treatment or control groups using an element of chance to determine the assignments in order to reduce bias.

(Nonclinical Randomization, NCI Thesaurus)

A study in which the subject, the investigator, or anyone assessing the outcome is aware of the assignment in at least one treatment group but unaware of the treatment assignment(s) in one or more other treatment groups.

(Partial Blind Study, NCI Thesaurus)

NOTE(S): A randomization book is a predefined set of assignments to portions of a study based on criteria, such as stratum group for example, that ensures a desired distribution of subjects across those portions of the study.

(Planned Randomization Book Allocation, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

EXAMPLE(S): obtain informed consent, verify eligibility criteria, enroll, registration to a study, randomize, assignment to a treatment arm, start of on-study period, complete study visits, end of on-study period, exit trial, break treatment blind, protocol violation, premature withdrawal.

(Performed Study Subject Milestone, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

EXAMPLE(S): assignment to a treatment arm, registration to a study, start of on-study period, end of on-study period, obtain informed consent, verify eligibility criteria, enroll, randomize, complete study visits, exit trial, break treatment blind, protocol violation, premature withdrawal, etc.

(Performed Administrative Activity, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

EXAMPLE(S): randomization, direct assignment based on eligibility criteria, etc. For escalating dose cohort studies, enroll subjects in successive arms, i.e., one arm is completely filled before any subjects are enrolled in the next arm.

(Defined Experimental Unit Allocation, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

EXAMPLE(S): obtain informed consent, verify eligibility criteria, enroll, registration to a study, randomize, assignment to a treatment arm, start of on-study period, complete study visits, end of on-study period, exit trial, break treatment blind, protocol violation, premature withdrawal

(Defined Study Subject Milestone, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

A living, of which Mr. Morland was himself patron and incumbent, of about four hundred pounds yearly value, was to be resigned to his son as soon as he should be old enough to take it; no trifling deduction from the family income, no niggardly assignment to one of ten children.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program provides for: Master of Public Health training, participation in the Cancer Prevention and Control Academic Course, mentored research, and brief field assignments in cancer prevention or cancer control programs at other institutions (from Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program/Description)

(Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program, NCI Thesaurus)

EXAMPLE(S): assignment to a treatment arm, registration to a study, start of on-study period, end of on-study period, obtain informed consent, verify eligibility criteria, enroll, randomize, complete study visits, exit trial, break treatment blind, protocol violation, premature withdrawal

(Defined Administrative Activity, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)