appoint

Definitions

ap- (a form of ad-, "to") + point = "to bring to a point." From Old French apointer, the idea is to settle a vague matter down to one fixed point — a point in time (an appointed hour) or a person fixed into a role (appoint a director). Both senses are the same act: pinning something down to a single exact point.

Why It Means This

Appoint hides its root well. Through French apointer, ad- (to) was fused onto point: "to bring (something) to a point." When you appoint someone to a job, you bring a drifting question — who should do this? — to one fixed point: that person. When you appoint a time, you bring a vague "sometime" down to one exact point on the clock. The two everyday meanings are really one image.

Common Collocations

• 1.appoint a successor任命继任者
• 2.newly appointed新任命的
• 3.appoint to a post任命到某职位
• 4.appointed time约定的时间

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The board appointed her as the new chief executive.

• 2.

  They appointed a committee to look into the matter.

• 3.

  We met again at the appointed time and place.