appoint、designate、assign、name与nominate这些动词均有“任命、委派”之意。
appoint ：通常指不经过选择的官方委任。
- They have appointed a new head teacher at my son's school.
我儿子读书的学校任命了一位新校长。
designate ：书面用语，侧重当权者或机构的选拔或任命，有时含强行指定的意味。
- Designate someone as the spokesperson.
指派某人为发言人。
assign ：常指给一群人或个人分配、分派、指派或委派任务。
- They've assigned their best man to the job.
他们指派了最优秀的人担任这项工作。
name ：普通用词，着重任命的结果，而不是过程。
- When she resigned, he was named to the committee in her place.
她辞职后，他被指定取代她进入委员会。
nominate ：通常指为某一公职选择候选人，并将其提交给有决定权的人作最后决定。
- She has been nominated for the presidency.
她已经获得了董事长职位的提名。
