sort English · revision 2647

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1380|origins=la sors}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /sɔːt/, US /sɔːrt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|sorte]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) [[bor|fro|sorte|t=class, kind]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from an altered form of [[la|sors|t=lot, fate; share; rank, category]] (accusative sortem),^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(COED 2004) from [[ine-pro|*ser-|t=to line up]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) perhaps because in ancient Italy lots were drawn from objects lined up in a row.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb is from Old French sortir “to allot, sort”, from Latin sortīrī “to draw lots, divide, choose”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) and partly from the noun or from [[assort]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[consort]] and [[sorcery]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “A kind, a group of people or things of the same type”: about 1380,^(OED 1989) or about 1390 in Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales''.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, “to allot, arrange”, is implied in 1358.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Vulgar Latin the sense moved from what is allotted by fate to “fortune, condition”, and then to “rank, class, order”.^(Etymonline) The classical sense, a person's lot or fate, existed in Middle English from about 1250 but is obsolete.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A kind of thing, a pattern or design, is from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline) The verb meant “to arrange by type or quality” in the mid-14th century and “to classify” about 1400,^(Etymonline) and “to resolve a problem” by 1948.^(Etymonline) ''Out of sorts'', from the 1620s, perhaps meant “out of stock”,^(Etymonline) and ''sort of'', expressing hesitation, is by 1790.^(Etymonline) A sort in typesetting, one piece of type, is from the 1660s,^(Etymonline) and the sorting of data in computing by 1958.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1250 – one's lot, fate (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1358 – verb, to allot, arrange.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1380 – a kind, class.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-15th century – a kind of thing.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1620s – ''out of sorts''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1660s – a piece of type.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1790 – ''sort of''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1948 – to resolve a problem.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A group of people or things of the same kind; a [[type]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A person of a particular character: ''a good sort''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(printing)'' A single piece of type in a font.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(computing)'' An arrangement of data in order.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To arrange by kind, class or size; to [[classify]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To separate from others: ''sort out the bad apples''.^(AHD)

+ # ''(sort out)'' To resolve a problem or confusion.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sortable]]

+ * [[sorter]]

+ * [[sortably]]

+ * [[sorta]]

+ * [[missort]]

+ * [[presort]]

+ * [[sortation]]

+ * [[subsort]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[assort]]

+ * [[consort]]

+ * [[sorcery]]

+ * [[sorcerer]]

+ * [[series]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Sort of'' as a hedge, “to some extent”, is colloquial, and is sometimes written ''sorta''.^(Etymonline) In the Lake District a ''sort'' was a point in an early form of football, scored by kicking the ball against the goal wall.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}