classify
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to arrange or organize by classes; order according to class.
- Synonyms:
- group, categorize, rate, rank, class
-
to assign a classification to (information, a document, etc.).
-
to limit the availability of (information, a document, etc.) to authorized persons.
verb
-
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
Other Word Forms
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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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak and Co., said bitcoin needs to break above $80,000 in a “meaningful way,” and then sustain that breakout to classify as a bullish signal for the cryptocurrency.
From MarketWatch • May 4, 2026
“We classify indicators as trend-following or momentum gauges, overbought and oversold metrics, and relative strength inputs,” she said.
From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026
The vice president pretended to pivot from “a longer discussion” of the subject, but then he immediately started pontificating about the culture’s “desire” to classify “celestial beings who fly around “as aliens.”
From Salon • Apr. 1, 2026
Moor Mother’s discography, much like her professional life, is difficult to classify.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026
In other words, we do not know how to classify it, how to put it into its proper context, because it seems to point in several directions at once.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
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.
