English
consign
Consign may come from Middle French consigner.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English consign
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1650, Jeremy Taylor, Devotions for ordinary days: “Ennoble my ſoul with great degrees of love to…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600consignerWiktionary, English consignuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1650consignWiktionary, English consign. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1650, Jeremy Taylor, Devotions for ordinary days: “Ennoble my ſoul with great degrees of love to…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sek- ‘to cut’
saw, sex, risk, ship, sexual, section, segment, sack, scarlet, insect, sawyer, sealing, sax, het, shingle, sickle, dissect, scythe, seg, sich, sedge, brassica, desiccation, desiccant, 49 more
through Proto-Italic *segnom ‘sign’
significant, seal, signal, significance, signify, insignia, ensign, signet, sigil, signification, 14 more
through Proto-Italic *segnāō
designation, assignation, 5 more
through Latin signō ‘mark, sign’
Today it means
verb To transfer to the custody of, usually for sale, transport, or safekeeping.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “consign”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Middle French consigner / consign