Consignee is from consign + -ee, from French consigner, from Latin consignare ('to seal, attest'), from con- ('together') + signare ('to mark, sign'), from signum ('mark, sign'). The ancestry passes through Latin consignare and Latin signum. The prefix con- adds togetherness, combination, or intensification where the Latin formation gives it that value, helping to explain the word's surface structure; the suffix -ee marks the person affected by or receiving an action, so the English form is shaped by recognizable word formation as well as by its inherited or borrowed base. In present use as a noun, it means "the person or party to whom goods are shipped or delivered", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include consign, consignment, consignor, sign, and signal.