Categorises

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To sort or group various items by their common features or properties
2. To allocate different classifications to entities based on their particular attributes or traits
3. Arranges items by placing them into groups that share similar traits

Etymology: The verb "categorises" is simply the third-person singular present of "categorise", and the story runs through the Greek word for "accusation." In ancient Greek, "katēgoria" meant a charge or accusation brought against someone in a public setting, built from "kata" (against) and "agoreuein" (to speak in the assembly, from "agora", the marketplace). Its sense then broadened to any predicate or assertion, and Aristotle used it for the basic classes into which things can be sorted, which is where the modern idea of a category comes from. The word passed through Late Latin "categoria" and Middle French "categorie" before entering Middle English as "category." The verb was made in English by adding the suffix "-ise" to that noun, so the root meaning of a legal accusation sits behind a verb meaning simply to sort things into groups.

Synonyms: classifies, organizes, sorts, arranges, labels

Antonyms: confuses, mixes, disorganizes, disarranges, unordered