designate

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (adjective)
  • (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛz.ɪɡ.nət/, /ˈdɛz.ɪɡ.neɪt/

    • Audio (Southern England):

      (file)

    • Audio (Southern England):

      (file)

  • (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈdez.ɪɡ.nət/, /ˈdez.ɪɡ.næɪt/
• (verb)
  • (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛz.ɪɡ.neɪt/

    • Audio (Southern England):

      (file)

    • Audio (US):

      (file)

  • (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈdez.ɪɡ.næɪt/

Adjective

designate (not comparable)

1. Designated; appointed; chosen.
2. (UK) Used after a role title to indicate that the person has been selected but has yet to take up the role.
   • 1619, George Buck, The History of King Richard the Third:

     King designate

Derived terms

• Commissioner-designate

Verb

designate (third-person singular simple present designates, present participle designating, simple past and past participle designated)

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.
   • 1912, chapter 1, in Baseball Joe on the School Nine, Stratemeyer Syndicate:

     "Yes, let 'Sister' Davis have a whack at it too," urged George Bland. Tom Davis, who was Joe Matson's particular chum, was designated "Sister" because, in an incautious moment, when first coming to Excelsior Hall, he had shown a picture of his very pretty sister, Mabel.

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.

Synonyms

• (mark out and make known): denote, describe, indicate, note
• (call by a distinctive title): denominate, entitle, name, style; see also Thesaurus:denominate
• (set apart for a purpose or duty): allocate, earmark; see also Thesaurus:set apart

Derived terms

• designatable
• designated driver
• designated hitter
• designator
• designatory
• designee
• indesignate
• nondesignating
• predesignate
• redesignate

Related terms

• codesignative
• designation
• designative
• designatum

Translations

to mark out and make known; to point out; to name; to indicate

• Bulgarian: означа́вам (bg) (označávam), обозначавам (bg) (oboznačavam)
• Czech: označit (cs), vymezit
• Dutch: bepalen (nl)
• Finnish: nimittää (fi), valita (fi), merkitä (fi), määrittää (fi), osoittaa (fi)
• French: désigner (fr)
• Galician: designar (gl)
• German: bestimmen (de), kennzeichnen (de), markieren (de), benennen (de), designieren (de), signieren (de), festlegen (de), vorsehen (de), ausweisen (de), ansetzen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (namnjan), 𐌲𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (ganamnjan)
• Japanese: 示す (ja) (しめす, shimesu)
• Latin: dēsignō
• Luxembourgish: designéieren
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: betegne

• Portuguese: designar (pt)
• Romanian: desemna (ro), indica (ro), designa (ro)
• Russian: ука́зывать (ru) (ukázyvatʹ)
• Spanish: designar (es), denominar (es)

to call by a distinctive title; to name

• Bulgarian: назначавам (bg) (naznačavam), именувам (bg) (imenuvam)
• Czech: označit (cs)
• Dutch: noemen (nl), benoemen (nl), aanduiden als
• Finnish: nimittää (fi)
• Galician: designar (gl)
• German: designieren (de), nominieren (de), nennen (de), bezeichnen (de), benennen (de), ernennen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (namnjan), 𐌲𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌼𐌽𐌾𐌰𐌽 (ganamnjan)
• Ido: titulizar (io)
• Japanese: 称する (ja) (しょうする, shōsuru)
• Portuguese: designar (pt)
• Romanian: desemna (ro), numi (ro), denumi (ro)
• Russian: называ́ть (ru) (nazyvátʹ), именова́ть (ru) (imenovátʹ)
• Spanish: designar (es)
• Swedish: utpeka (sv)

to indicate or set apart for a purpose or duty

• Bulgarian: определям (bg) (opredeljam), предназначавам (bg) (prednaznačavam)
• Czech: ustanovit, jmenovat (cs)
• Finnish: nimittää (fi), nimetä (fi), korvamerkitä (fi)
• Galician: designar (gl)
• German: vorsehen (de), bestimmen (de), ausersehen, designieren (de), einstufen (de), ausweisen (de)
• Japanese: 指定する (していする, shitei suru)
• Kazakh: тағайындау (tağaiyndau)
• Latin: addīcō
• Maori: tautapa
• Portuguese: designar (pt)
• Romanian: desemna (ro)
• Russian: назнача́ть (ru) (naznačátʹ)
• Spanish: designar (es), titular (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} nurodyti, ^{(please verify)} parodyti (lt), ^{(please verify)} pavadinti, ^{(please verify)} paskirti (lt) (eiti pareigas, tarnybai)

Further reading

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “designate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “designate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Interlingua

Participle

designate

1. past participle of designar

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.ziɲˈɲa.te/, (traditional) /de.siɲˈɲa.te/
• Rhymes: -ate
• Hyphenation: de‧si‧gnà‧te

Etymology 1

Verb

designate

1. inflection of designare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

designate f pl

1. feminine plural of designato

Adjective

designate f pl

1. feminine plural of designato

Anagrams

• disegnate, sdegniate

Latin

Verb

dēsignāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of dēsignō

References

• “designate”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• designate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Spanish

Verb

designate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of designar combined with te