Organisation

How to spell organisation

12 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce organisation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does organisation mean?

1. nounA structured group of people working together towards shared aims, such as a company, charity, or institution.
2. nounThe act or result of arranging something into an orderly, efficient system.

Organisation in a sentence

• The charity is a non-profit organisation run mostly by volunteers.

• The organisation of the filing system saved the office hours each week.

• Every organisation in the sector had to register for the new tax scheme.

• Poor organisation of the event meant guests waited an hour for seating.

Where does organisation come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek organon, which literally meant a 'tool' or 'instrument', and by extension a bodily organ that does work. Latin took it up as organum, and the medieval Latin verb organizare developed the sense of 'to arrange into an orderly, working whole', much as the parts of a living body work together. French carried this into organiser, and English borrowed the noun form in the early 1400s, at first in medical and biological contexts before broadening to mean any structured body of people or any act of arranging things methodically. The British spelling keeps the -ise ending inherited from French, where American usage settled on -ize closer to the Greek and Latin roots. The trickiest spot for spellers is the unstressed middle, the faint schwa written -isa-, which gives no clear clue to the ear, and the single 's' that British writers must hold against the constant sight of the American 'z'.

How the word is built

• organ (from Greek organon: instrument, tool)
• -ise (verb suffix, British spelling)
• -ation (noun suffix denoting action or result)

British and American spelling

Organisation is the British spelling. American English spells it organization.