consignation
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con·sign
(kən-sīn′)v. con·signed, con·sign·ing, con·signs
v.tr.
1. To give over to the care or custody of another.
2.
a. To put in or assign to an unfavorable place, position, or condition: "Their desponding imaginations had long since consigned him to a watery grave" (William Hickling Prescott).
b. To set apart, as for a special use or purpose; assign: "South American savannas [that are] now consigned to grazing" (Eric Scigliano).
3. To deliver (merchandise, for example) for custody or sale.
v.intr. Obsolete
To submit; consent.
[Middle English consignen, to certify by seal, from Old French consigner, from Latin cōnsignāre : com-, intensive pref.; see com- + signāre, to mark (from signum, mark; see sekw- in Indo-European roots).]
con·sign′a·ble adj.
con′sig·na′tion (kŏn′sī-nā′shən, -sĭg-) n.
con·sig′nor, con·sign′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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