Reassign

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To transfer duties or responsibilities from one individual to another as well as to redistribute roles or tasks among various people or groups
2. To change the allocation of a task or responsibility from one person to another
3. To allocate a role or function to a different individual or group

Etymology: The verb "reassign" is built from "re-" meaning "again" or "back" and "assign," so its real story runs through the older word "assign." That word comes from Latin "assignare," meaning "to mark out" or "to allot," built from "ad-" ("to") and "signare" ("to mark"), which is itself rooted in "signum," a sign or seal. To assign something was originally to put a mark on it, to designate it for a particular person or purpose. The Latin verb passed into Old French as "assigner" and then into Middle English as "assignen," so "assign" was already a settled word in English by the time "re-" was attached to it. Adding "re-" simply creates the sense of assigning again, or assigning anew. The prefix "re-" comes to English from Old French, where it had the same meaning, so the whole word is a layered combination of Latin and French parts. The sense of "reassign" centres on moving a duty or task from one holder to another, which keeps the original idea of marking out a designated place for something.

Synonyms: reallocate, reassign, reassign, redirect, transfer