assignment reassignment meaning

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something assigned, as a particular task or duty: She completed the assignment and went on to other jobs.

a position of responsibility, post of duty, or the like, to which one is appointed: He left for his assignment in the Middle East.

an act of assigning; appointment.

the transference of a right, interest, or title, or the instrument of transfer.

a transference of property to assignees for the benefit of creditors.

Origin of assignment

Synonym study for assignment, other words for assignment, other words from assignment.

• mis·as·sign·ment, noun
• non·as·sign·ment, noun
• re·as·sign·ment, noun

Words that may be confused with assignment

• assignment , assignation

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use assignment in a sentence

When the assignment for Sunday came in early November, Talib started preparing by watching one of each team’s last three games, every day.

As long she got the assignments done for her subjects by a set time, “you can approach them any way you want,” I told her.

The assignment involved matching simple words to illustrations.

A year later, Cole nearly lost the seat when she yanked committee assignments from Republicans who had voted for her a year earlier.

Teachers will post assignments, quizzes and activities online as they deliver them to in-person learners, meaning all children can work at the same pace.

Though this might easily have been grounds for dismissal or reassignment, nothing of the sort happened.

Last May, Israel lowered the minimum age for gender reassignment surgery from 21 to 18.

Medicare, the program for the elderly and disabled, lifted its ban on covering sex reassignment surgery earlier this year.

How did you identify before the sexual reassignment surgery?

How did your modeling agents react when you told them you were having [Sexual Reassignment Surgery]?

No doubt they'd made their last report to Taber and had headed back to Washington for reassignment.

Reassignment to a distant station is of course a day-to-day possibility in the life of any military officer.

We have journeyed together for two whole terms; there is only one more between you and reassignment.

Further delay, he predicted, would cause confusion in reassignment of some 4,000 troops.

All these teams uncovered a substantial number of men and women considered eligible for further training or reassignment.

British Dictionary definitions for assignment

/ ( əˈsaɪnmənt ) /

something that has been assigned, such as a mission or task

a position or post to which a person is assigned

the act of assigning or state of being assigned

the transfer to another of a right, interest, or title to property, esp personal property : assignment of a lease

the document effecting such a transfer

the right, interest, or property transferred

law (formerly) the transfer, esp by an insolvent debtor, of property in trust for the benefit of his creditors

logic a function that associates specific values with each variable in a formal expression

Australian history a system (1789–1841) whereby a convict could become the unpaid servant of a freeman

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

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reassignment noun

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What does the noun reassignment mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun reassignment . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

How common is the noun reassignment ?

How is the noun reassignment pronounced, british english, u.s. english, where does the noun reassignment come from.

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the noun reassignment is in the mid 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for reassignment is from 1650, in the writing of Thomas Fuller, Church of England clergyman.

reassignment is formed within English, by derivation.

Etymons: reassign v. , ‑ment suffix .

Nearby entries

• reassemble, v. ?1473–
• reassembly, n. 1576–
• reassert, v. 1647–
• reassertion, n. 1653–
• reassertor, n. 1859–
• reassess, v. a1689–
• reassessment, n. 1704–
• reassiege, v. 1587
• reassign, v. 1611–
• reassignation, n. 1655–
• reassignment, n. 1650–
• reassimilate, v. 1747–
• reassimilation, n. 1828–
• reassociate, v. a1513–
• reassociated, adj. 1881–
• reassociation, n. ?1792–
• reassort, v. 1817–
• reassortant, adj. & n. 1979–
• reassorted, adj. 1866–
• reassortment, n. 1767–
• reassume, v. 1472–

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Meaning & use

Pronunciation, compounds & derived words, entry history for reassignment, n..

Originally published as part of the entry for reassign, v.

reassignment, n. was revised in June 2009.

reassignment, n. was last modified in July 2023.

oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:

• further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into reassignment, n. in July 2023.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1904)

• Find out more

OED Second Edition (1989)

• View reassign, v. in OED Second Edition

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Citation details

Factsheet for reassignment, n., browse entry.

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Summary of Reassignment

This summary of reassignment covers the following topics:

• Learning About Reassignment
• Definition of Reassignment
• The Agency's Right to Reassign
• Reassignment Without Regard to RIF Retention Standing
• Separation After Declining Geographic Reassignment
• Qualifications and Reassignment
• Relocation Expense Allowances
• Additional Information from the Agency
• Additional Information from OPM

1. Learning About Reassignment

The reassignment regulations give an agency extensive flexibility in reassigning an employee to a different position.

This summary covers the procedures in the reassignment regulations. With this summary, employees, managers, union representatives, and others will have an overview of both the agency's and employees' rights in a reassignment situation.

The appropriate human resource office (HRO) in the agency can provide additional information on specific questions relating to reassignment policies, options, and entitlements.

2. Definition of Reassignment

The regulations published in section 335.102 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations (5 CFR 335.102) cover reassignment of competitive service employees, while the regulations published in section 302.102(a) (5 CFR 302.102(a)) cover reassignment of excepted service employees.

Section 5 C.F.R. 210.102(b)(12) of the regulations defines reassignment as:

". . . a change of an employee, while serving continuously within the same agency, from one position to another without promotion or demotion."

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3. The Agency's Right to Reassign

An agency may reassign an employee when:

The agency has a legitimate organizational reason for the reassignment; and

The vacant position is at the same grade, or rate of pay (i.e., if the movement is between pay systems such as from a General Schedule position to a Federal Wage System position), as the employee's present position.

The agency's right to direct reassignment includes the right to reassign an employee from a special rate position to a non-special rate position at the same grade, or to a position with less promotion potential than the present position. (Reassignment to a position with more promotion potential than the present position requires competition under the agency's merit staffing plan.) The position to which the agency reassigns an employee may be located in the same or a different geographic area (e.g., reassignment from Houston to Washington, DC).

4. Reassignment Without Regard to RIF Retention Standing

An agency may reassign an employee without regard to the employee's reduction in force retention standing, including an employee's veterans' preference status. A reassignment to a vacant position at the same grade is not a reduction in force action even if the agency abolishes the employee's former position

At its option, an agency may adopt a policy to select employees for reassignment on the basis of considerations such as retention standing, total service with the agency, length of time in a position or in the organization, etc. Again at its option, an agency may canvass its employees to determine whether an individual employee would prefer reassignment to a specific location, a new organization, and/or to a position with different duties and responsibilities.

5. Separation After Declining Geographic Reassignment

The agency must use the 5 CFR part 752 adverse action regulations when separating an employee who declines a directed reassignment to a position in a different geographic area.

An employee who is removed by adverse action for declining geographic relocation is potentially eligible for most of the benefits that are available to a displaced employee separated by reduction in force (e.g., intra- and interagency hiring priority, severance pay, discontinued service retirement, etc.).

An employee who declines reassignment to a position in the same geographic area as the present position (e.g., from an Atlanta position to a different Atlanta position) is not eligible for any career transition assistance or other benefits.

6. Qualifications and Reassignment

The agency's basic right to reassign an employee is based, in part, on the agency's determination that the employee is qualified for the position to which the employee will be reassigned.

An agency may also reassign an employee to a position if the agency modifies or waives qualifications for the vacant position, consistent with OPM's requirements for these actions.

7. Relocation Expense Allowances

An employee is generally eligible for relocation expense allowances for a directed reassignment that requires relocation to a different geographic area

The General Services Administration (GSA) publishes its Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) in 41 CFR subpart F. The complete FTR and other relocation-related information are available on GSA's website at  www.gsa.gov .

8. Additional Information from the Agency

The agency's human resources office (HRO) can provide both employees and managers with additional information on OPM's reassignment regulations. The HRO can also provide information on potential benefits, such as eligibility for:

• Career transition assistance
• Separation incentives (if available)
• Rehiring selection priority
• Severance pay
• Unemployment compensation
• Relocation allowances.

9. Additional Information from OPM

OPM provides additional restructuring information on the OPM website at  www.opm.gov .

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Definition of reassign verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

• After his election defeat he was reassigned to the diplomatic service.

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Meaning of assignment in English

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• It was a jammy assignment - more of a holiday really.
• He took this award-winning photograph while on assignment in the Middle East .
• His two-year assignment to the Mexico office starts in September .
• She first visited Norway on assignment for the winter Olympics ten years ago.
• He fell in love with the area after being there on assignment for National Geographic in the 1950s.
• act as something
• all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy) idiom
• be at work idiom
• be in work idiom
• housekeeping
• in the line of duty idiom
• undertaking

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

assignment | American Dictionary

Assignment | business english, examples of assignment, collocations with assignment.

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gender reassignment

Definition of gender reassignment

Note: This term is sometimes considered to be offensive in its implication that a transgender or nonbinary person takes on a different gender, rather than making changes to align their outward appearance and presentation with their gender identity. Gender transition is the preferred term in the medical and LGBTQ+ communities.

Word History

1969, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Articles Related to gender reassignment

Merriam-Webster's Short List of Gender...

Merriam-Webster's Short List of Gender and Identity Terms

In case you (or someone you know) has questions about what they mean

Dictionary Entries Near gender reassignment

genderqueer

gender reassignment surgery

Cite this Entry

“Gender reassignment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gender%20reassignment. Accessed 5 Apr. 2024.

Medical Definition

Medical definition of gender reassignment.

Note: This term is sometimes considered to be offensive in its implication that a transgender or nonbinary person takes on a different gender, rather than makes changes to align their outward appearance and presentation with their gender identity. Gender transition is the preferred term in the medical and LGBTQ+ communities.

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