different between assign vs acknowledge

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??sa?n/
• Hyphenation: as?sign
• Rhymes: -a?n

Verb

assign (third-person singular simple present assigns, present participle assigning, simple past and past participle assigned)

1. (transitive) To designate or set apart something for some purpose.

2. (transitive) To appoint or select someone for some office.

3. (transitive) To allot or give something as a task.
   • Captain Edward Carlisle […] felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, […]; he could not tell what this prisoner might do. He cursed the fate which had assigned such a duty, cursed especially that fate which forced a gallant soldier to meet so superb a woman as this under handicap so hard.

4. (transitive) To attribute or sort something into categories.
5. (transitive, law) To transfer property, a legal right, etc., from one person to another.
6. (transitive, programming) To give (a value) to a variable.

Synonyms

• (set apart something for some purpose): allocate, earmark; see also Thesaurus:set apart
• (transfer property): consign, convey; see also Thesaurus:transfer

Derived terms

• assignment
• assignable
• assignation

Translations

Noun

assign (plural assigns)

1. An assignee.
2. (obsolete) A thing relating or belonging to something else; an appurtenance.
3. (obsolete) An assignment or appointment.
4. (obsolete) A design or purpose.

English

Alternative forms

• acknowledg (obsolete)
• acknowelege (obsolete)

Etymology

Recorded since 1553, a blend of Middle English knowlechen (“to discover, reveal, acknowledge”) and aknowen (“to recognize, acknowledge”); the latter from Old English oncn?wan, ?cn?wan (“to know, recognize, acknowledge”), from on + cn?wan (“to know”). Notice the preservation of /k/ word-internally (regularly spelled with ck as in back) while being lost word-initially. The prefix might have been influenced by Anglo-Norman a- (“on-, to-”). See knowledge.

For the formation compare Latin agn?sc? and Russian ????????? (priznát?), with cognate roots.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k?n?.l?d?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /æk?n??.l?d?/, [?k?n??l?d?], [?k?n??l?d?], [???n??l?d?], [???n??l?d?]
• Hyphenation US: ac?knowl?edge, UK: ac?know?ledge

Verb

acknowledge (third-person singular simple present acknowledges, present participle acknowledging, simple past and past participle acknowledged)

1. (transitive) To admit the knowledge of; to recognize as a fact or truth; to declare one's belief in
   • 1611, King James Version, Psalm 51:3

     I acknowledge my transgressions.

   • 1849, Thomas Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James II, Chapter 1

     For ends generally acknowledged to be good.
2. To own or recognize in a particular quality, character or relationship; to admit the claims or authority of; to give recognition to.
   • 1611, King James Version, Proverbs 3:6

     In all thy ways acknowledge Him.

   • c. 1595, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, III-v

     By my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee.

3. To be grateful of (e.g. a benefit or a favour)
4. To report (the receipt of a message to its sender).

5. To own as genuine or valid; to assent to (a legal instrument) to give it validity; to avow or admit in legal form.

Usage notes

• Acknowledge is opposed to keep back, or conceal, and supposes that something had been previously known to us (though perhaps not to others) which we now feel bound to lay open or make public. Thus, a man acknowledges a secret marriage; one who has done wrong acknowledges his fault; and author acknowledges his obligation to those who have aided him; we acknowledge our ignorance.
• Recognize supposes that we have either forgotten or not had the evidence of a thing distinctly before our minds, but that now we know it (as it were) anew, or receive and admit it on the grounds of the evidence it brings. Thus, we recognize a friend after a long absence. We recognize facts, principles, truths, etc., when their evidence is brought up fresh to the mind. A foreign minister, consul, or agent, of any kind, is recognized on the ground of his producing satisfactory credentials.
• See also confess

Synonyms

• avow, proclaim, recognize, own, admit, allow, concede, confess

Derived terms

Related terms

• acknowledgment

Translations

References

• acknowledge in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.