Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

appoint

American  
[uh-point] / əˈpɔɪnt /

verb (used with object)

  1. to name or assign to a position, an office, or the like; designate.

    to appoint a new treasurer; to appoint a judge to the bench.

    Synonyms:
    select, choose
    Antonyms:
    discharge, dismiss
  2. to determine by authority or agreement; fix; set.

    to appoint a time for the meeting.

    Synonyms:
    establish, prescribe
  3. Law. to designate (a person) to take the benefit of an estate created by a deed or will.

  4. to provide with what is necessary; equip; furnish.

    They appointed the house with all the latest devices.

  5. Archaic. to order or establish by decree or command; ordain; constitute.

    laws appointed by God.

  6. Obsolete. to point at by way of censure.


verb (used without object)

  1. Obsolete. to ordain; resolve; determine.

appoint British  
/ əˈpɔɪnt /

verb

  1. (also intr) to assign officially, as for a position, responsibility, etc

    he was appointed manager

  2. to establish by agreement or decree; fix

    a time was appointed for the duel

  3. to prescribe or ordain

    laws appointed by tribunal

  4. property law to nominate (a person), under a power granted in a deed or will, to take an interest in property

  5. to equip with necessary or usual features; furnish

    a well-appointed hotel

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See furnish.

Other Word Forms

  • appointable adjective
  • appointer noun
  • misappoint verb (used with object)
  • reappoint verb (used with object)
  • unappointable adjective

Etymology

Origin of appoint

1325–75; Middle English apointen, from Middle French apointer, equivalent to a- a- 5 + pointer “to point

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

With a manager to find and with the same unpopular people who appointed Wilfried Nancy in charge of finding him, Celtic look directionless.

From BBC

After the Islamic revolution, its leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini appointed him Friday prayer leader of the capital, Tehran.

From BBC

Khamenei was appointed to several posts: first as deputy defense minister, then imam for Tehran’s Friday prayers and, crucially, a supervisor for the Revolutionary Guard.

From Los Angeles Times

Under the commission’s proposal, an appointed city attorney would take over the civil litigation duties, while an elected city prosecutor would handle the misdemeanors.

From Los Angeles Times

He appeared to ingratiate himself into royal circles too, becoming a director of Pitch@Palace in 2016, and being appointed to the board of a royal charity, St George's House.

From BBC