assignment vs errand

assignment

noun
  • An assigned task. 

  • A transfer of a right or benefit from one person to another. 

  • A document that effects this transfer. 

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

  • The categorization of persons as belonging to the male or female sex. 

  • An operation that assigns a value to a variable. 

  • A position to which someone is assigned. 

  • A task given to students, such as homework or coursework. 

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

errand

noun
  • A mundane mission of no great consequence, concerning household or business affairs (dropping items by, doing paperwork, going to a friend's house, etc.) 

  • An oral message trusted to a person for delivery. 

  • The purpose of such a journey. 

verb
  • To send someone on an errand. 

  • To go on an errand. 

How often have the words assignment and errand occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )