Arranging

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /əˈɹeɪnd͡ʒɪŋ/

Definitions

1. Putting items, people, or ideas in a specific order or pattern to achieve a desired arrangement
2. Systematically ordering or grouping elements to create a planned or structured format
3. Carefully sorting or positioning components to establish an intended layout or sequence

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "arranging" is that its ancestor word once described a military formation. Middle English "arengen" meant "to draw up a battle line," and it came from Old French "arengier" and "arangier," meaning "to put in a line or row." That French verb was built on "reng," "rang," or "ranc," meaning "line, row, or rank," which is also the source of the English word "rank" in its sense of a line of soldiers. The "reng" element was borrowed from a Frankish word, "*hring," meaning "ring," so the root idea is of something circular or bent into shape. Its distant ancestor is a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to turn or bend," so a row of people or objects was originally pictured as something curved into place.

Synonyms: organizing, structuring, ordering, systematizing, setting up