What does consign mean?
To consign is to hand something over — formally, deliberately, and often permanently — into the care or control of someone else. A shipper may consign cargo to an agent, an estate may be consigned to an auction house, and a person may be consigned to prison or to the care of relatives. Beyond this literal sense, consign carries a powerful figurative force: to say something has been "consigned to history" or "consigned to oblivion" is to declare it finished, dismissed, or deservedly forgotten. This second sense lends the word a slightly somber, even final tone, which is why it appears so often in obituaries, political rhetoric, and cultural criticism. In commerce, consign also has a precise technical meaning: goods are sent to a dealer who pays only for what actually sells. Derived forms include consignment, consignor, and consignee, making the word especially useful in trade, logistics, and formal writing.
verbTo consign is to hand over or deliver something or someone to the care, custody, or control of another, often formally or permanently. It also means to assign something to an (usually undesirable) place, condition, or fate.
- To hand over or entrust something or someone to the care, custody, or control of another.
- To assign or relegate something to a particular (typically unpleasant) place, condition, or fate.
- (Commerce) To send goods to a dealer or agent for sale, with payment due only when they are sold.
"The defeated army was consigned to history."
"She consigned her late father's furniture to a local auction house."
"The outdated policy was finally consigned to the dustbin of history."
The same root that gives us "signature" once sealed fates in Latin — and today "consigned to history" is how we politely bury things we'd rather forget.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of consign
Consign derives from the Latin verb consignare, formed from com- ("together") plus signare ("to mark, seal"), the same root that gives English "sign," "signal," and "signature." In its earliest use it meant to seal or mark something officially, which naturally extended to handing over goods under seal and hence to delivering them to another's charge. English adopted the word from French consigner around the early sixteenth century, and its commercial sense of shipping goods for sale became established in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Related word forms
How consign is actually used
"Consign" is a fairly formal verb, most at home in written or elevated registers. Its figurative use — "consigned to oblivion," "consigned to history" — almost always carries a negative or dismissive connotation, implying that whatever is being consigned is being permanently set aside. The commercial sense (sending goods on consignment) is a distinct technical usage common in retail and trade.
Easily confused with consign
"Cosign" means to sign a document jointly with another person (as on a loan), while "consign" means to hand over or relegate something to another's care.
"Resign" means to give up a position or accept something reluctantly, whereas "consign" means to deliver or commit something into another's keeping.