Ordinating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. An act of arranging, organizing, or putting elements in a systematic order
2. The function of aligning different components or parts to work together harmoniously
3. The process of coordinating various elements or activities to promote efficiency and harmony in a given context

Etymology: "Ordinating" is the present participle of a verb built on Latin "ordinare", meaning to arrange in order or set in rank. The Latin root "ordo" (genitive "ordinis") denoted a row, line or rank, so the idea of putting things into their proper places is built into the word from the start. English took the verb through two routes at once: the adjective "ordinate" arrived partly through Middle English and partly by direct borrowing from the Latin past participle "ordinatus", which is why the two paths sit side by side in its history. The related verb "ordain" is a doublet of "ordinate", meaning it came into English by a separate route from the same Latin source, and it has since drifted toward the sense of conferring holy office. "Ordinate" kept closer to the original notion of arranging things in sequence. The sense of harmonious alignment that "ordinating" carries today is a later extension of that basic idea of putting parts into their correct order.

Synonyms: arranging, organizing

Antonyms: disorganizing, disarranging