sort
sort Lexical Profile
sort Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A category of things or people having some common feature; a type, kind, or variety.
"The botanical garden features almost every sort of native wildflower found in the region."
A person of a specified character, nature, or disposition (used especially in informal contexts).
"Our new neighbor seems like a friendly, helpful sort who gets along with everyone."
An operation or algorithm that arranges data or items into a prescribed sequence (such as alphabetical or numerical order).
"Running a quick sort on the customer database allowed the analyst to view the most recent transactions first."
• verb
To arrange or separate items systematically into groups or according to type, class, or sequence.
"Volunteers helped sort the donated books by reading level before packing them into boxes."
British To resolve a problem, difficulty, or disorganized situation satisfactorily (often used with 'out').
"The technician promised to sort the network connectivity issue before the morning meeting."
Word Nuance & Usage
In standard grammar, 'sort' should agree in number with the determiner and noun it modifies (e.g., 'this sort of book' vs. 'these sorts of books'), though mixing singular and plural forms (such as 'these sort of things') is common in informal speech.
• Rhymes for sort
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in Middle English from Old French 'sorte' (meaning 'class' or 'kind'), which ultimately derives from Latin 'sors' ('lot', 'fate', or 'share'), reflecting how people or items were historically grouped according to their allotted share or destiny.