organize

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈɔː.ɡən.aɪz/, US /ˈɔːr.ɡən.aɪz/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin organizāre, partly through Middle French organiser,^[2][3][4] from Latin organum, instrument, tool (see organ), and -izāre (see -ize).^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In medical writing, to give structure to, furnish with organs: 1413 in Barnhart and the OED, about 1400 in Etymonline.^[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The general sense, to put into working order, form into a coordinated whole, is first recorded in 1632, the 1630s in Etymonline.^[2][6][3] To become organic, form living tissue, is from 1880.^[3][6] To make arrangements for a person is from 1892,^[6] and to arrange or provide something personally from 1952.^[6] To form or join a trade union or other organized group is a modern American use.^[7][8] Organization is probably from before 1425, first bodily structure.^[2]

Timeline

• 1413 – to furnish with organs.^[2][6]
• before 1425 – organization.^[2]
• 1632 – to form into a coordinated whole.^[2]
• 1880 – to become organic.^[3]
• 1952 – to arrange (something).^[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To arrange into an orderly, structured whole; to systematize.
2. To plan and arrange an event or activity.
3. To form or enlist workers into a trade union.

Word family

• organizer
• organizable
• organizability
• disorganize
• misorganize
• outorganize
• overorganize
• preorganize

Related words

• organ
• organism
• organization
• organic

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins