Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DES-IG-NA'TION, n.

1. The act of pointing or marking out by signs or objects; as, the designation of an estate by boundaries.
2. Indication; a showing or pointing; a distinguishing from others.
3. Appointment; direction; as, a claim to a throne grounded on the designation of a predecessor.
4. Appointment; a selecting and appointing; assignment; as, the designation of an officer to a particular command.
5. Import; distinct application. Finite and infinite are primarily attributed in their first designation to things which have parts. – Locke.