To designate means to officially choose, name, or mark someone or something for a particular role, use, or purpose. It can also mean to indicate or point something out clearly.
From Latin "designare" meaning "to mark out" or "to point out," formed from "de-" and "signare" (to mark, from "signum" meaning "sign"). It came into English through Latin and French forms in the 17th century.
Designate is literally about putting a "sign" on something so everyone knows what it’s for. Every time you see a reserved sign on a parking spot, that space has been "designated"—it’s language turned into a physical label.
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