assort

American  

[uh-sawrt] / əˈsɔrt /

verb (used with object)

1. to distribute, place, or arrange according to kind or class; classify; sort.

2. to furnish with a suitable assortment or variety of goods; make up of articles likely to suit a demand.

3. Archaic. to group with others of the same or similar kind; connect or identify as of a similar class; associate (usually followed bywith ).

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verb (used without object)

1. to agree in sort or kind; be matched or suited.

2. to associate; consort.

assort British  

/ əˈsɔːt /

verb

1. (tr) to arrange or distribute into groups of the same type; classify

2. to fit or fall into a class or group; match

3. (tr) to supply with an assortment of merchandise

4. (tr) to put in the same category as others; group

5. rare to keep company; consort

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Other Word Forms

• assortative
  adjective
• assortatively
  adverb
• assorter
  noun
• assortive
  adjective
• reassort
  verb

Etymology

Origin of assort

From the Middle French word assorter, dating back to 1480–90. See as-, sort

Example Sentences

Genes that are located far apart on the same chromosome are likely to assort independently.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

We could try to assort that bunch top-to-bottom, from the front of the train to the caboose.

From Forbes • Jul. 14, 2015

This occurs because chromosomes, on which the genes reside, assort independently during meiosis and crossovers cause most genes on the same chromosomes to also behave independently.

From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013

Many species, including primates and wolves, assort themselves by means of a dominance hierarchy.

From Scientific American • Dec. 19, 2011

Not the objects, I am persuaded, of the Understanding; and yet we take as strong Impressions of them as if we could compare and assort them in a syllogism.

From Eighteenth Century Essays on Shakespeare by Smith, David Nichol