Organize

How to spell organize

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce organize

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does organize mean?

1. verbTo arrange people, tasks, or things into an orderly, working system or to plan and coordinate an event.

Organize in a sentence

• She offered to organize the files by client and date.

• The committee will organize the annual fundraising dinner.

Where does organize come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word goes back to the Greek organon, which literally meant a 'tool' or 'instrument', the thing with which work is done. From the same source Latin built organum and the Medieval Latin verb organizare, meaning 'to arrange into a working whole' or 'to furnish with organs', as a living body is furnished with parts that each do a job. English took it through Old French organiser in the late 1300s, at first in the biological sense of forming something into a connected, functioning structure. Over time the meaning broadened from arranging the organs of a body to arranging people, tasks, and objects into orderly systems. The -ize ending here reflects the Greek-derived verb suffix, and although the spelling looks distinctly American, it is also fully standard in British and Canadian writing, where it competes with the -ise variant.

How the word is built

• organ- (from Greek organon: tool, instrument)
• -ize (verb-forming suffix: to make or arrange)

British and American spelling

Organize is the American spelling. British English spells it organise.