Alphabetising

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The activity of systematically ordering letters or items according to the standard sequence used in a language
2. The practice of sorting words or objects by their starting letters in accordance with the alphabet
3. The process of arranging letters or entries following the conventional letter sequence of a language

Etymology: The first two letters of the Greek alphabet gave the name to the whole system. "Alpha" and "beta" come from Phoenician "ʾlp" (ox) and "bt" (house), and the Greeks combined them into "alphabetos" to mean the alphabet itself. Latin borrowed that as "alphabetum", and English eventually built on it, but the verb is a modern formation. "Alphabetise" is simply "alphabet" with the suffix "-ise", which came into English through Middle French from the Late Latin "-izare", a suffix meaning "to make into" or "to treat in a certain way." The verb's "-ise" ending is a Greek-derived suffix that entered English via French, and it gives "alphabetise" the sense of making something conform to alphabetical order. Its "-ising" form is the present participle used for the ongoing action, as in "the clerk was alphabetising the files."

Synonyms: organizing