Binning

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈbɪnɪŋ/

Definitions

1. Sorting continuous or varied data into distinct categories or bins for easier analysis
2. Assigning data points to a set of fixed intervals or groups to simplify information processing
3. Dividing a range of data values into segments or classes to facilitate comparison or summarization

Etymology: Sorting data into groups was once done in literal bins, and that is the picture the word carries. The verb comes from the noun "bin", a receptacle, which traces back to an old Welsh and Breton word "benn" meaning a cart or caisson-like container, with cognates in German "Benne" (wheelbarrow) and Middle Dutch "benne" (basket). The noun was used in English for a box or basket to hold grain, wine, or other goods, and "binning" in its data sense is simply the act of putting items into such containers. The form "bin" is a noun that developed into a verb, and the computing sense appears as a metaphor: values are dropped into labelled compartments, just as a gardener sorts seeds into jars. The mechanism is the same as the old one, only the container has become an abstract range of values.

Synonyms: sorting, categorizing, classifying

Antonyms: disorganizing