Categorizers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A collective that systematically organizes items or ideas into specific classifications based on common attributes
2. Individuals or mechanisms that classify diverse entities into structured groups according to defined characteristics
3. Agents or tools that place items into groups according to shared traits

Etymology: "Categorizers" is the plural of "categorizer," an agent noun built from "categorize" plus the suffix "-er," which marks a person or thing that performs an action. So a categorizer is whatever does the categorizing, whether a person sorting items into classes or a system or mechanism doing the same job. The base verb "categorize" comes from "category," which traces back through Latin "categoria" to Greek "katēgoria," a word meaning an assertion or predication, and in Aristotle's philosophy a basic class of being or predicate. The verb form took the meaning of placing things into such classes, and the suffix "-er" then turned the action into a noun for the agent doing it.

Synonyms: classifiers, organizers, sorters, labelers, designators