Unclassifies

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To remove from a specific category or group; to deprive of a designated classification or status; to withdraw official categorization from something
2. The act of taking away an assigned grouping or label; eliminating the recognized classification of an item or data; reclassifying as without a category
3. The process of ceasing to assign a specific label or group to; stripping an entity of its previously assigned category; revoking its formally recognized classification

Etymology: "Unclassifies" is the third-person singular present form of "unclassify", a verb meaning to remove something from a category or classification. The verb is built from the prefix "un-", meaning reversal or removal, attached to "classify". Its base, "classify", traces back through French "classifier" to the Latin "classis", a division or class of people, and that earlier sense of ranking people into groups is still visible in the root. Some dictionaries suggest the verb may instead be a back-formation from "unclassified", meaning the process ran backwards: the adjective existed first, and the verb was later formed from it. Either way, the word is a plain combination of a familiar prefix and a familiar verb, so its meaning follows directly from its parts: to undo a classification.

Synonyms: declassifies, reveals, uncategorizes

Antonyms: classifies, categorizes, organizes