Antonym to 'Assign'

Question

Suppose we have users and operators. Some users are assigned to certain operators. What should I call a procedure of removing an assignment, so an operator no longer works with a user or group of users? What are some antonyms for assign?

score 12 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 28 '12 at 10:52

12

What about "dissociate" or "deallocate"?

answered Feb 28 '12 at 10:52

Mike G

314

9

Wouldn't it be more associate/dissociate, allocate/deallocate? – cdmckay Dec 03 '14 at 02:36
I vote for unassigning! Language is flexible :) – User Jul 22 '21 at 16:21

score 11 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 28 '12 at 09:46

11

There is some question about whether it is a real word, but I have seen and occasionally used "deassign."

answered Feb 28 '12 at 09:46

James McLeod

9,207

3

I also saw 'unassign', but it doesn't sound well. – Aleksandr Kravets Feb 28 '12 at 10:15
1

I agree, unassign doesn't sound quite right. A variable can be unassigned, but I don't think this should be used as an active verb. – James McLeod Feb 28 '12 at 13:01

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 28 '12 at 10:03

8

If you "assign" users to an operator, you may "remove" users from the operator.

answered Feb 28 '12 at 10:03

Mustafa

4,685

2

It's opposite, operators are being assigned to groups of users. So if i can 'assign operator to group', then i can't say that i'm 'removing operator from group' because group consists of users, not operators. – Aleksandr Kravets Feb 28 '12 at 10:16

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 28 '12 at 08:21

2

Divest comes to my mind:

(transitive) To strip, deprive, or dispossess (someone) of something (such as a right, passion, privilege, or prejudice).

You shall never divest me of my right to free speech.

So if the original procedure is:

Assign users to an operator.

The antonym is:

Divest an operator of users.

answered Feb 28 '12 at 08:21

Frantisek

21,938

3

Wikitionary says it's an archaic word. I think many of my colleagues don't have it in their vocabulary, I also hear it for the first time. Is there a more widespread word? – Aleksandr Kravets Feb 28 '12 at 08:50
2

It's archaic for the meaning of "undress", not for the meaning we're talking about here. – Frantisek Feb 28 '12 at 08:57
2

@RiMMER You completely missed the point. Nobody knows what the word divest means, and nobody uses it, so it is a poor choice even if you think it's *technically* correct. – BadHorsie Jul 23 '19 at 11:03

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 28 '12 at 08:24

2

You can revoke a task that has been allocated to someone

answered Feb 28 '12 at 08:24

darryn.ten

374
2
11

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Maybe i'm just carping, but revoke is more of use with privilegies. And i have a group of users being supported by operator. – Aleksandr Kravets Feb 28 '12 at 08:56

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 07 '17 at 05:43

0

How about "dismiss" ? one of the word's definitions is - "discharge from employment or office" which fits quite perfectly as far as I can see. "assign a doctor" / "dismiss doctor" at least one more option to the mentioned above )))

answered Jun 07 '17 at 05:43

Rossitten

367
1
4
13

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered May 22 '18 at 11:20

0

Consider using absign.

Why? Due to the morphology of assign:

Middle English, from Anglo-French assigner, from Latin assignare, from ad- + signare to mark, from signum mark, sign

The opposite of "ad" in Latin is "ab", and it's used in words such as "abstain", "absolve", "abdicate" etc. in English. So, replacing "ad" with "ab" gets you "absign".

Why not? I've not heard anybody else use it.

answered May 22 '18 at 11:20

einpoklum

3,464

2

Well, morphology of a word is not exactly a well-known thing. Especially for non-native speakers whose primary interest is English, not Latin or any other related language. A fact that you didn't hear anyone using it means it's not common for average person's active vocabulary. In my case I had to find a well-known word since it was intended for use in software code. A good code should be self-describing. It won't be if a person reading will have to look refer to a dictionary to understand function's name. – Aleksandr Kravets May 22 '18 at 12:52
1

And "absign" is not in any of my dictionaries. – Breandán Dalton Aug 07 '19 at 17:14

score -1 · Answer 8 · answered Feb 28 '12 at 08:21

-1

If the user is moved to a different operator, I would go for "reassigned", which carries the proper connotations, I feel.

answered Feb 28 '12 at 08:21

Avner Shahar-Kashtan

6,859

1

No, it's just link between them being removed – Aleksandr Kravets Feb 28 '12 at 08:26

score -3 · Answer 9 · edited Nov 14 '12 at 11:57

-3

Resign is a proper answer to your question.

edited Nov 14 '12 at 11:57

RegDwigнt

97,231

answered Nov 14 '12 at 11:28

mahdi shahbazi

1

2

No, it is not. I assign someone else the task. I don't resign someone else the task. – Luke_0 Nov 14 '12 at 15:06

Antonym to 'Assign'

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