classify

Etymology

It is formed from English class + -ify.^[2] The OED, revising its entry in 2010, analyses it as Latin classis (“class, division”) with the suffix -fy, and compares French classifier, recorded in this sense from 1781, as well as German klassifizieren (1767), Swedish klassificera (1752) and Italian classificare (1797).^[3] Etymonline and Barnhart take it from the French verb,^[4][5][6] which Klein derives from a Latin verb that he calls fictitious;^[7] Collins, the ODE and the Shorter Oxford make it a back-formation from classification.^[8][9][10] Dictionary.com derives it from the Latin noun and the suffix.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

To arrange in classes according to shared qualities: 1776, in R. E. Raspe's translation of Ferber's travels in Italy.^[3][2] Etymonline dates it to 1782,^[4] and Barnhart to 1799.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The verb appeared in the late 18th century beside classification, which is recorded from 1767,^[3][10] at a time when several European languages formed similar verbs for sorting things into classes.^[3] From 1854 it was used for placing a single thing in a class,^[3] and since 1896 intransitively, of a thing that is classed as something.^[3] In 1949 a new sense appeared, chiefly in the United States: to mark a document or information as officially secret,^[3][2] now usual in the participle classified.^[10][8]

Timeline

• 1776 – to arrange in classes.^[3][2]
• 1782 – Etymonline's date.^[4]
• 1799 – Barnhart's date.^[5][6]
• 1854 – to place in a particular class.^[3]
• 1896 – intransitive, to be classed as.^[3]
• 1949 – to designate as officially secret.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To arrange things in classes or groups according to shared characteristics; to categorize: The librarian classified the donated books by subject.^[2][8][3]
2. To assign something to a particular class or category: The storm was classified as a hurricane.^[2][3]
3. To designate documents or information as officially secret, available only to authorized people.^[2][8][3]

Word family

• classifiable
• misclassify
• overclassify
• preclassify
• reclassify
• subclassify

Related words

• class
• classification
• classified
• classic

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House