classify
Americanverb (used with object)
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to arrange or organize by classes; order according to class.
- Synonyms:
- group, categorize, rate, rank, class
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to assign a classification to (information, a document, etc.).
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to limit the availability of (information, a document, etc.) to authorized persons.
verb
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to arrange or order by classes; categorize
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government to declare (information, documents, etc) of possible aid to an enemy and therefore not available to people outside a restricted group
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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misclassifyverb (used with object)
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overclassifyverb (used with object)
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unclassifiablyadverb
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unclassifiableadjective
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classifiernoun
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unclassifiablenessnoun
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preclassifyverb (used with object)
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unclassifyingadjective
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classifiableadjective
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nonclassifiableadjective
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have classifiedperfect
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has classifiedperfect 3rd person singular
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is classifyingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am classifyingprogressive 1st person singular
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classifyingparticiple
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has been classifyingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been classifyingperfect progressive
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classifiessingular 3rd person
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are classifyingprogressive
Past
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had classifiedperfect
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were classifyingprogressive plural
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had been classifyingperfect progressive
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was classifyingprogressive singular
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classifiedparticiple
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classifiedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of classify
First recorded in 1790–1800; from Latin classi(s) class + -fy
Explanation
Humans seem to have the need to classify things, arranging them into different classes by such unifying traits as size, color, or shape. It’s fine to do this to inanimate objects, but doing it to people can be very wrong. The word classify contains the base word class, which means "category" and comes from the Latin classis, which actually referred to an army or group called to arms. It eventually came to mean "a group," and thus classify means "to group." As a security measure, you can also classify information that is not to be shared. Writer Ambrose Bierce once said, “The small part of ignorance that we arrange and classify we give the name of knowledge.”
Vocabulary lists containing classify
Vocabulary of the Common Core
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Academic Vocabulary: Core Tier 2 Words, List 3
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Words Middle Schoolers Should Use for Comparing and Contrasting Texts
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
