classify

[klas-uh-fahy]

verb (used with object), clas·si·fied, clas·si·fy·ing.

to arrange or organize by classes; order according to class.

to assign a classification to (information, a document, etc.).Compare classification(def 5).

to limit the availability of (information, a document, etc.) to authorized persons.

Origin of classify

1790–1800; < Latin classi(s) class + -fy

Related formsclas·si·fi·a·ble, adjectivemis·clas·si·fy, verb (used with object), mis·clas·si·fied, mis·clas·si·fy·ing.non·clas·si·fi·a·ble, adjectiveo·ver·clas·si·fy, verb (used with object), o·ver·clas·si·fied, o·ver·clas·si·fy·ing.pre·clas·si·fy, verb (used with object), pre·clas·si·fied, pre·clas·si·fy·ing.un·clas·si·fi·a·ble, adjectiveun·clas·si·fi·a·ble·ness, nounun·clas·si·fi·a·bly, adverbun·clas·si·fy·ing, adjective

Synonyms for classify

1. class, rank, rate, categorize, group.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for classifiable

Contemporary Examples of classifiable

The disappearance of Air France Flight 447 with 228 people aboard was also classifiable as a result of loss of control.
Flight 370 Didn’t Disappear: We Missed It
Clive Irving
March 24, 2014

Historical Examples of classifiable

"Monstrous anomalies," not classifiable, and often whimsical in design.
Afloat on the Ohio
Reuben Gold Thwaites
Lore and facts about these animals are dispersed in many books not classifiable under natural history.
Guide to Life and Literature of the Southwest
J. Frank Dobie
The auctioneers world is classifiable into two sections: Buyers and Sellers.
The Confessions of a Collector
William Carew Hazlitt
World sense and intelligible, are they separate or classifiable together, vi.
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 4
Plotinos (Plotinus)

British Dictionary definitions for classifiable

classify

verb -fies, -fying or -fied (tr)

to arrange or order by classes; categorize

government to declare (information, documents, etc) of possible aid to an enemy and therefore not available to people outside a restricted group

Derived Formsclassifiable, adjectiveclassifier, noun

Word Origin for classify

C18: back formation from classification

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for classifiable

adj.

1820, from classify + -able.

classify

1782, from French classifier, from classe (see class (n.)) + -fier (see -fy). Related: Classified; classifying.