appoint

verb

ap·​point ə-ˈpȯint How to pronounce appoint (audio)
appointed; appointing; appoints

transitive verb

1
a
: to fix or set officially
appoint a trial date
b
: to name officially
will appoint her director of the program
c
archaic : arrange
d
law : to determine the disposition of (an estate) to someone by virtue of a power of appointment
2
: to provide with complete and usually appropriate or elegant furnishings or equipment
appointed the rooms with a curated selection of art and furniture …Chron.com
a beautifully appointed room

intransitive verb

: to exercise a power of appointment
Choose the Right Synonym for appoint

furnish, equip, outfit, appoint, accoutre mean to supply one with what is needed.

furnish implies the provision of any or all essentials for performing a function.

a sparsely furnished apartment

equip suggests the provision of something making for efficiency in action or use.

a fully equipped kitchen

outfit implies provision of a complete list or set of articles as for a journey, an expedition, or a special occupation.

outfitted the family for a ski trip

appoint implies provision of complete and usually elegant or elaborate equipment or furnishings.

a lavishly appointed apartment

accoutre suggests the supplying of personal dress or equipment for a special activity.

fully accoutred members of a polar expedition

Examples of appoint in a Sentence

She was appointed professor of chemistry at the university. After his parents died, the boy's uncle was appointed as his guardian. Every year, the group appoints three new members. a committee appointed by Congress the company's newly appointed assistant director
Recent Examples on the Web Altman was replaced by CTO Mira Murati, who was appointed interim CEO. Will Knight, WIRED, 21 Nov. 2023 Bayer Rosmarin was appointed CEO in April 2020 and the Nov. 8 outage was the second national scandal under her leadership. Lionel Lim, Fortune, 20 Nov. 2023 In 2021, after Padilla was appointed, Newsom signed a bill into law that requires a primary and general election to fill vacant Senate seats. Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 19 Nov. 2023 Classified documents: The special counsel appointed to investigate Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents has interviewed the president’s son Hunter Biden. Elizabeth Both, NBC News, 17 Nov. 2023 Two years later, he was named deputy director of the Office of Operations, and in 1983 he was appointed the office’s director, reporting directly to Deputy Mayor Nathan Leventhal. Sam Roberts, New York Times, 17 Nov. 2023 Egypt’s schoolchildren in the 1960s were taught a song in praise of the man who’d appointed himself their president in 1954, at age 36—uncommonly young for a nonroyal to lead an Arab nation. Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, 15 Nov. 2023 In a news release on Tuesday, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced that Emma Hayes has been appointed the USWNT's head coach. Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 15 Nov. 2023 The council couldn’t appoint a replacement for Montgomery Steppe because there is more than one year remaining in her council term, which began last December and is scheduled to run through December 2026. David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Nov. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'appoint.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French appointer, from a- (from Latin ad-) + point point

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1c

Time Traveler
The first known use of appoint was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near appoint

Cite this Entry

“Appoint.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appoint. Accessed 2 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

appoint

verb
ap·​point ə-ˈpȯint How to pronounce appoint (audio)
1
: to decide on usually from a position of authority
the teacher appointed a time for our meeting
2
: to choose for some job or offices
I was appointed to wash the dishes
the school board appointed three new teachers
the president appoints a cabinet

Legal Definition

appoint

transitive verb
ap·​point ə-ˈpȯint How to pronounce appoint (audio)
1
: to name officially to a position
appointed to the agency's top post
appointed conservator of the estate
2
: to determine the distribution of (property) by exercising the authority granted by a power of appointment
a general power to appoint the corpus of a trustW. M. McGovern, Jr. et al.

intransitive verb

: to exercise a power of appointment see also power of appointment
appointive adjective
appointment noun

More from Merriam-Webster on appoint

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