Alphabetizes

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To put a collection of items into a sequence based on the letters that begin each entry To classify elements by arranging them according to their initial alphabetic characters To organize a list by aligning items in the order established by the first letters of each name
2. To arrange a series of words or names so that they follow the sequence of letters in the alphabet
3. To sort a group of entries by beginning letter from A to Z to make finding items easier

Etymology: The word "alphabetize" is a verb built from "alphabet" and the suffix "-ize", and the alphabet itself takes its name from its first two letters. The Greek letters alpha and beta, which in turn descend from Phoenician "ʾlp" and "bt" (words for ox and house), combined to form "alphabētos" in Greek, the source of Latin "alphabētum" and Middle English "alphabete." English then added the adjective "alphabetical" to that noun, and "alphabetize" grew from it. The suffix does the verb work. It comes from Greek "-izein," which passed through Late Latin "-izāre," Middle French "-iser," and Middle English "-isen" before settling into modern English "-ize." Attaching it to a noun or adjective produces a verb meaning "to make into or treat in the manner of" that thing, so "to alphabetize" means to arrange items according to the alphabet.

Synonyms: arranges, sorts, classifies, organizes, indexes

Antonyms: disarranges, disorganizes, confuses, scrambles, mixes