x designates y iff x is an instance of an Information Content Entity, and y is an instance of an Entity, such that given some context, x uniquely distinguishes y from other entities.
Example
a vehicle identification number designates some vehicle
Given a stronger temporal interpretation, this property may be functional. For more info please refer to https://github.com/BFO-ontology/BFO-2020/tree/master/src/owl/temporal%20extensions.