What does "sort" mean?

Q: What does "sort" mean?

1. (a type or kind) a group of things or people that are similar in some way. 2. (a person) a person of a particular character or nature. 3. (data ordering) the process of putting data into a specific order, like alphabetical or numerical. 4. (to organize items) to put things into different groups or a certain order. 5. (to fix or handle) to deal with a problem or organize a situation successfully.

sort — meaning, definition & examples

Word

01a type or kind

A2 · Elementary Countable noun

n. a group of things or people that are similar in some way.

n. a category of things or people sharing common attributes.

“What sort of music do you usually listen to when you exercise?”

“The researcher identified a specific sort of bacteria that thrived in extreme temperatures previously thought to be uninhabitable.”

Synonyms

type kind category

02a person

B1 · Intermediate Countable noun Informal

n. a person of a particular character or nature.

n. an individual characterized by a specific set of personality traits or behaviors.

“He seems like a decent sort of guy once you get to know him.”

“She was a reliable sort, always the first to arrive and the last to leave whenever the office faced a deadline.”

Synonyms

character individual

03data ordering

B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun Computing Technical

n. the process of putting data into a specific order, like alphabetical or numerical.

n. the systematic arrangement of data or objects into a specified sequence, often via an algorithm.

“The computer finished the sort of the database in less than a second.”

“The software engineer implemented a quick sort to handle the massive dataset more efficiently than the previous linear method.”

Synonyms

ordering sequencing

04to organize items

A2 · Elementary

v. to put things into different groups or a certain order.

v. to arrange or group items systematically according to shared characteristics or a desired sequence.

“I need to sort these clothes into piles for washing.”

“The librarian spent the afternoon sorting the new acquisitions by genre before placing them on the display shelves.”

Synonyms

organize classify arrange

Antonyms

jumbledisorganize

05to fix or handle

B1 · Intermediate British English · Informal

v. to deal with a problem or organize a situation successfully.

v. to resolve a problem, organize a task, or clarify a confusing situation.

“Don't worry about the tickets; I'll sort it out this afternoon.”

“The manager promised to sort the scheduling conflict before the morning shift began to avoid any further disruption.”

Synonyms

resolve fix handle

Antonyms

complicate

From Middle English sort, soort, sorte (cognate Dutch soort, German Sorte, Danish sort, Swedish sort), borrowed from Old French sorte (“class, kind”), from Latin sortem, accusative form of sors (“lot, fate, share, rank, category”).