What does appointing mean?
Appointing is the act of formally assigning a person to a position, office, or responsibility, usually carried out by an individual or body holding the authority to make such decisions. It is the present participle and gerund form of the verb 'appoint', and it dominates contexts such as government, law, business, and institutions: boards appoint directors, presidents appoint ambassadors, and councils appoint committee members. The word carries a distinctly formal, official connotation, implying legitimacy and deliberate choice rather than casual selection. Beyond naming people, 'appoint' can also mean fixing or setting a time or place, though this sense is less common today. Related forms include 'appointment' (the position or arrangement itself), 'appointee' (the person appointed), and 'appointed' (the past participle). Because appointments shape leadership across public and private life, the language of appointing is central to discussions of power, governance, and accountability.
verbThe present participle and gerund of the verb 'appoint': the act of formally assigning someone to a position, office, or task.
- Formally assigning a person to a position, office, or duty, typically by an authority with the power to do so.
- Setting or fixing something in place, such as appointing a time or date for a meeting.
"The board spent the morning appointing a new chief financial officer."
"The president announced that she was appointing three new ambassadors this week."
"After much deliberation, the council began appointing members to the newly formed ethics committee."
Every judge, ambassador, and cabinet member in office today got there through an act of appointing — a word whose roots trace back to the Latin idea of a single precise 'point'.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of appointing
Appointing comes from the verb 'appoint', which entered English from Old French 'apointer', meaning to arrange or settle, itself rooted in Latin words built on 'punctum', meaning a point or prick. The same Latin root gave English 'point', 'punctuation', and 'puncture', making these close relatives of 'appointing'. The verb has been established in English since the medieval period, developing its modern sense of formally designating someone to office over subsequent centuries.
Related word forms
How appointing is actually used
Register is formal-to-neutral; 'appointing' appears most often in official, legal, corporate, and governmental contexts. It functions as both a gerund ('Appointing judges is one of his duties') and a present participle ('She was appointing delegates all afternoon'). In everyday informal speech, people more often say 'naming' or 'picking' rather than 'appointing'.
Easily confused with appointing
'Disappointing' means failing to meet expectations or hopes, whereas 'appointing' means formally assigning someone to a position or task.