different between assignment vs gratuity

English

Etymology

From Middle English assignement, from Old French assignement.

Pronunciation

Noun

assignment (countable and uncountable, plural assignments)

1. The act of assigning; the allocation of a job or a set of tasks.

   This flow chart represents the assignment of tasks in our committee.

2. The categorization of something as belonging to a specific category.

   We should not condone the assignment of asylum seekers to that of people smugglers.

3. An assigned task.

   The assignment the department gave him proved to be quite challenging.

4. A position to which someone is assigned.

   Unbeknownst to Mr Smith, his new assignment was in fact a demotion.

5. (education) A task given to students, such as homework or coursework.

   Mrs Smith gave out our assignments, and said we had to finish them by Monday.

6. (law) A transfer of a right or benefit from one person to another.

   The assignment of the lease has not been finalised yet.

7. (law) A document that effects this transfer.

   Once you receive the assignment in the post, be sure to sign it and send it back as soon as possible.

8. (programming) An operation that assigns a value to a variable.

Hyponyms

• (programming): augmented assignment

Translations

References

• assignment on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Etymology

From Old French gratuite (French gratuité), from Medieval Latin gratuitas (“a free gift”), from Latin gratuitus (“freely given, free”); see gratuitous.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /????tju??t?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /????tu??t?/

Noun

gratuity (plural gratuities)

1. An additional payment given freely as thanks for service.
2. Euphemistic form of fee, in contexts where such additional payments have been made obligatory.
3. Euphemistic form of bribe.

Synonyms

• (additional payment offered in thanks): douceur, grace, pourboire, tip; baksheesh (Turkish and Middle Eastern contexts); cumshaw (SE Chinese contexts; archaic); see also gift
• (obligatory fee): service charge; douceur, tip (euphemistic)
• (bribe): Thesaurus:bribe
• (additional gift from a vendor): lagniappe

Related terms

• gratis
• gratuitous
• gratuitously

Translations

Further reading

• gratuity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• gratuity in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.