1. vt.任命；指派　 appoint to a position or office
2. vt.标明　 mark clearly; indicate

　～ the place　指定地方
　～ the rank　标明军衔
　～ road　标明路线
　～ appropriately〔correctly〕　正确地任命
　～ aptly　适合地任命
　～ erroneously　错误地任命
　～ properly　恰当地任命
　～ specifically　特殊地任命
　～ strictly　严格地标明
　～ sb as　称某人为
　～ sb for〔to〕 some office　任命某人担任某职

　The Prime Minister has designated three new members of his government.　首相任命了三名政府的新成员。
　He designated the place where we were to meet.　他指定了我们见面的地点。
　The marks on his shoulder designated the rank of an army officer.　军官肩上的标记标明他的级别。
　Red lines designated main roads on this map.　在这幅地图上红线条标示干道。
　Will you designate the flowers you wish?　你能说出你想要的花吗?
　I designate Mr. Sharp as the next chairman of this committee.　我任命夏普先生为这个委员会的下届主席。
　The President designated Hussein as his successor.　总统选定侯赛因作为他的接班人。
　They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.　他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
　He was designated as the Minister for Education.　他曾被任命为教育部部长。
　The hospital has been designated as a university hospital.　这所医院已被指定为一所大学的附属医院。
　The man has been designated by the President as the next Secretary of State.　那人已被总统任命为下任国务卿。
　The school has been designated as the meeting place for the evening art club.　该学校被指派为业余艺术俱乐部的会址。
　The state was designated a disaster area.　该州被确定为灾区。
　Mary was designated chairman.　玛丽被任命为主席。
　I designate you to act for me while I am away.　我指派你在我外出期间代理我的职责。
　He was designated to lead the expedition.　他受到委派率领这支远征队。
　He was designated to lead the team.　他被任命为该队的队长。

 ♣ designate, appoint, elect, name, nominate
　这组词都表示“宣布某人的职务、地位、工作”等。其区别是：designate指当权的人或机构的选拔和任命，口气非常正式，有时到了生硬的程度；name则指不侧重选择，强调宣布，语气不那么正式，常用于政治机构或政府办公室人员的提名；nominate从词源学看，与name等同，但意思不同，指提出人选，供决策人取舍；elect指从候选人中作出最后的选择；appoint指不经选举的任命，任命人在法律上有这样的权力，这种选举本身可能是专断的，也可能是明智的。