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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

designate.

Designated; appointed; chosen.

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈdɛz.ɪɡ.nət/Received-Pronunciation, US/ˈdɛz.ɪɡ.neɪt/Received-Pronunciation, US/ˈdez.ɪɡ.nət/Australia/ˈdez.ɪɡ.næɪt/Australia
  1. Designated; appointed; chosen.

    not-comparable
  2. Used after a role title to indicate that the person has been selected but has yet to take up the role.

    UK · not-comparable
Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Latin dēsignātus, perfect passive participle of designō, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of design.

verb/ˈdɛz.ɪɡ.neɪt/Received-Pronunciation, US/ˈdez.ɪɡ.næɪt/Australia
  1. To mark out and make known; to point out; to indicate; to show; to distinguish by marks or description

    to designate the boundaries of a country
    to designate the rioters who are to be arrested
  2. To call by a distinctive title; to name.

  3. To indicate or set apart for a purpose or duty — with to or for; to designate an officer for or to the command of a post or station.

Where this word comes from

Borrowed from Latin dēsignātus, perfect passive participle of designō, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of design.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.