Meanings and Uses of Consign | Generated by AI
Question: What does “consign” mean?
Answer:
Consign is a verb with several related meanings depending on the context. Here are the most common ones:
- To hand over or deliver something to someone’s care
(often formally or officially)- Example: The goods were consigned to the shipping company.
- Example: She consigned her old furniture to a second-hand store.
- To send (goods) to an agent or place for sale
This is the most frequent business/commercial meaning. The owner (consignor) sends items to someone else (consignee) who sells them and usually takes a commission.- Example: The artist consigned several paintings to the gallery.
- Related terms: consignment store, consignment agreement
- To assign or commit someone/something to an unpleasant or undesirable situation
(figurative, usually negative)- Example: His bad performance consigned him to the bench for the rest of the season.
- Example: The old theory was consigned to the dustbin of history.
- To banish, put away, or get rid of something (rather literary)
- Example: All memories of the scandal were consigned to oblivion.
Quick summary of most common modern uses
| Context | Meaning | Typical example |
|---|---|---|
| Business / commerce | Send goods for sale by another party | consigned the dresses to the boutique |
| General / delivery | Hand over / entrust to someone | consigned the package to the courier |
| Figurative (negative) | Put into an unwanted or forgotten state | consigned to failure / obscurity / oblivion |
The word often carries a sense of formality, passing responsibility to someone else, or removing something from one’s direct control.
References:
- None required for this basic definition question.