assignment

n. [ LL. assignamentum: cf. OF. assenement. ] 1. An allotting or an appointment to a particular person or use; or for a particular time, as of a cause or causes in court. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) (a) A transfer of title or interest by writing, as of lease, bond, note, or bill of exchange; a transfer of the whole of some particular estate or interest in lands. (b) The writing by which an interest is transferred. (c) The transfer of the property of a bankrupt to certain persons called assignees, in whom it is vested for the benefit of creditors. [ 1913 Webster ]

Assignment of dower, the setting out by metes and bounds of the widow's thirds or portion in the deceased husband's estate, and allotting it to her. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Assignment is also used in law as convertible with specification; assignment of error in proceedings for review being specification of error; and assignment of perjury or fraud in indictment being specifications of perjury or fraud. [ 1913 Webster ]