to write your name on a document to show that you agree with it or that it belongs to you
Please sign at the bottom of the form.
They signed the lease for their new apartment yesterday.
to communicate using hand movements or sign language
The teacher signed the alphabet slowly for the new students.
He can sign fluently in American Sign Language.
to designate a particular place, number, or resource for someone’s use
The airline assigned me seat 12A.
Each student was assigned a locker for the year.
to legally transfer the ownership of rights or property to another person
The inventor assigned his patent to the company.
She assigned her copyright to the publisher.
to officially leave a job, position, or office
After ten years as CEO, he decided to resign and spend more time with his family.
The minister resigned amid growing public pressure over the scandal.
✦ From Latin resīgnāre “to unseal, cancel, give up”, from re- “again” + sīgnāre “to sign”.
to accept something unpleasant that cannot be changed, usually expressed as “resign oneself to” something
After the accident, he resigned himself to months of painful therapy.
Knowing the train was canceled, she resigned herself to waiting another hour.
✦ Same root as the primary sense, but the figurative meaning of accepting what is signed away developed in late Middle English.
