assign vs appoint

assign and appoint both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
assign	No	No	Yes	No
appoint	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, appoint is a hypernym of assign; that is, appoint is a word with a broader meaning than assign:

assign: give an assignment to (a person) to a post, or assign a task to (a person)
appoint: assign a duty, responsibility or obligation to

Other hypernyms of assign include charge.

assign (verb)	appoint (verb)
select something or someone for a specific purpose	furnish
attribute or credit to	assign a duty, responsibility or obligation to
decide as to where something belongs in a scheme	create and charge with a task or function
attribute or give
transfer one's right to
give out
make undue claims to having
give an assignment to (a person) to a post, or assign a task to (a person)