Etymologically
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appoint

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Pronunciation

  • /əˈpɔɪnt/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English appointen, also apointen,[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman appointer,[5][3][6] borrowed from Old French apointier (“to arrange, settle, make ready”),[5][4][7][8][9][10] from the phrase à point (“to the point, into good condition”),[7][8][5][9][11] from a (“to”), from Latin ad, and point (“point”), from Latin pūnctum.[4][3][5] The OED notes that its spelling was sometimes refashioned after Medieval Latin appunctō, from which some senses were also taken,[7][12] and that the main senses had already developed in Old French.[7] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from about 1240, meaning to agree, settle or decide, to draw up, and to nominate.[6] It is related to point and disappoint.[12][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

To come to an agreement about a matter, to settle or arrange definitely: about 1385, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde.[7][3]

Semantic evolution

Ayto notes that the early English uses keep the sense of the phrase à point, to settle a matter decisively,[9] and Etymonline gives the etymological sense as coming to a point about something, hence agreeing.[5] Chaucer also used it reflexively for making up one's mind (about 1386).[7] From 1393, in Gower, it meant to fix authoritatively the time, and later the place, of something,[7][13] and the sense of naming a person to an office is recorded from the early 15th century in Etymonline,[5] but only from 1557 in the Historical Thesaurus.[13] Ayto finds both main modern senses, fixing by arrangement and choosing for a post, established by the mid 15th century.[9] The sense "to equip, fit out" (1490) survives only in the past participle, as in well-appointed.[13][14][15] In law, from 1601, it means to direct to whom property shall go under a power given for that purpose.[13][15]

Timeline

  • c. 1385 – to come to an agreement, to settle definitely (obsolete by 1660).[7][3]
  • c. 1386 – reflexive, to make up one's mind (obsolete).[7]
  • 1393 – to fix authoritatively the time or place of something.[7][13]
  • 1490 – to equip, fit out (now only in the past participle).[13]
  • 1528 – to arrange a meeting with a person.[7]
  • 1557 – to name a person to an office.[13]
  • 1594 – to arrange the time or place of a meeting.[7]
  • 1601 – law, to decide where property shall go.[13]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To choose a person officially for a position, job or duty: The board appointed her treasurer.
  2. To fix or set a time or place, by agreement or by authority: They met at the appointed hour.
  3. To prescribe or ordain: laws appointed by the council.
  4. (law) To name, under a power given in a deed or will, the person who is to receive an interest in property.
  5. To equip or furnish, now only in the past participle: a well-appointed kitchen.

Word family

  • appointable
  • appointer
  • appointor
  • preappoint
  • reappoint
  • appointee
  • appointive
  • appointment

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  14. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  15. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins