assigned

Everyday

1. Assigned means given as a job or task to someone: «the homework assigned by the teacher». tree →
2. Assigned means put in a certain place or group: «your assigned seat». tree →
3. In maths, a value is assigned to a letter when we say what number it stands for. tree →

In the lessons

In school it is about tasks and places: assigned reading, assigned groups, assigned seats. In maths and computing, assigning a value to a variable (x = 5) means giving the letter that value. Phrases: «be assigned to», «assigned seat», «assigned reading».

Examples

• The teacher assigned us a page of sums. tree →
• Each pupil was assigned a partner. tree →
• Please sit in your assigned seat. tree →
• 24 children were assigned to 4 groups equally; how many in each group? tree →
• The value 7 was assigned to the letter n. tree →
• Mum assigned me the job of feeding the cat. tree →
• A place in his palace was assigned to him by Zeus, who employed him to carry his thunder and lightning. tree →

Note

Spelling: as-SIGN-ed — keep the silent g. Verb: assign something to someone, or assign someone something. Maths: «assigned equally to groups» means divide.

In Jewish tradition

Here it means given a place or a share, as the letters are given to the stars and signs of the zodiac. In Samuel it means that Joab put Uriah in a particular place, a dangerous one.

Interpretation. Sefer Yetzirah says God gave each letter its own place in the world, linking letters to planets, signs and parts of the year. This shows the tradition's idea that the world is ordered through the Hebrew letters. David's order to place Uriah is read as a grave sin, for which the prophet Nathan rebuked him.

Examples

• God has carried these through waters, He has borne them aloft through fire, and He has stamped them in the storms of the air; He has distributed them among the seven stars, and has assigned them to twelve celestial constellations. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1887) tree →
• And it came to pass, when Joab kept watch upon the city, that he assigned Uriah unto the place where he knew that valiant men were. (Prophets 2SA.11.16, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Spelling: as-SIGN-ed — keep the silent g. Verb: assign something to someone, or assign someone something. Maths: «assigned equally to groups» means divide.