something that designates, such as a name or distinctive mark the act of designating or the fact of being designated
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
des•ig•na•tion
(dez′ig nā′shən),USA pronunciation n.
- an act of designating.
- the fact of being designated.
- something that designates;
a distinctive name or title;
appellation. - nomination, appointment, or election to an office, position, etc.:His designation as treasurer has been confirmed.
- Latin dēsignātiōn- (stem of dēsignātiō) a marking out, equivalent. to dēsignāt(us) (see designate) + -iōn- -ion
- Middle English designacioun 1350–1400
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
des•ig•nate /v. ˈdɛzɪgˌneɪt; adj. -nɪt, -ˌneɪt/USA pronunciation
v., -nat•ed, -nat•ing, adj.
v.
adj.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025v.
- [ ~ + obj] to mark or point out;
specify:He designated the points where we would meet. - [ ~ + obj + (as +) obj] to give a name or title to:The neighborhood was designated (as) a historic landmark area.
- to nominate or select;
assign: [ ~ + obj + (as +) obj]:She was designated (as) the chairperson.[ ~ + obj + to + verb]:She designated me to do the work.
adj.
- Government[after a noun] named or selected for an office or position, but not yet installed:named ambassador-designate until her formal nomination procedure was finished.
des•ig•nate
(v. dez′ig nāt′;adj. dez′ig nit, -nāt′),USA pronunciation v., -nat•ed, -nat•ing, adj.
v.t.
adj.
des′ig•na′tive, des•ig•na•to•ry
(dez′ig nə tôr′ē, -tōr′ē, dez′ig nā′tə rē),USA pronunciation adj.
des′ig•na′tor, n.
des′ig•nee′, n.
v.t.
- to mark or point out;
indicate;
show;
specify. - to denote;
indicate;
signify. - to name;
entitle;
style. - to nominate or select for a duty, office, purpose, etc.;
appoint;
assign.
adj.
- Governmentnamed or selected for an office, position, etc., but not yet installed (often used in combination following the noun it modifies):ambassador-designate.
- Latin dēsignātus, past participle of dēsignāre. See design, -ate1
- 1640–50
des′ig•nee′, n.
'designation' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
A, a
- B, b
- Commonwealth
- Electra complex
- Evenki
- Indian
- Kutchin
- Luoravetlan
- Madonna
- Manhattan Project
- Meiji
- Nivkh
- Oscar
- PCP
- Pharaoh
- Prophet
- aa
- accession number
- appellation
- appellation contrôlée
- appellative
- apply
- buck
- call number
- classified
- color code
- commonwealth
- corps
- course
- denomination
- denominative
- denote
- din
- downzone
- driver
- epithet
- evangelical
- faro
- formula
- imprint
- jack
- lady
- leu
- mark
- mesh
- misnomer
- name
- national library
- octane number
- par avion