Sort

How to spell sort

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce sort

What does sort mean?

1. verbTo arrange items systematically into groups or an order.
2. nounA category or class of people or things sharing common qualities.

Sort in a sentence

• noun

  This sort of problem usually needs a specialist.

• verb

  Please help me sort these invoices by date.

• noun

  The shop sells every sort of fastener you could need.

• verb

  The machine can sort coins by their size and weight.

Where does sort come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin sors, with the stem sort-, which literally meant a 'lot' as in the object drawn to decide something by chance, and by extension a person's share, fate, or fortune. From that came the Late Latin sortire, meaning 'to draw lots' and then 'to allot or arrange', since deciding by lot was a way of dividing things into groups. English took the word through Old French sorte, where it had developed the sense of a 'class' or 'kind' of thing, that is, a group sharing the same fate or category. By the late 1300s English used the noun for a type or category, and the verb 'to sort' for arranging items into such categories soon followed. The same Latin root still echoes in 'assortment', 'consort', and even 'sorcerer', who was once one who casts lots.

How the word is built

• sort (from Latin sors, sortis: lot, share, fate)