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.
Classify me however you want—liberal/conservative, gentile/Jew—I am an American and will never be truly comfortable in any other place.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025
Classify beliefs according to their source of justification.
From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022
Classify it however you like; it is a shockingly powerful work of art, as funny as it is flaying.
From New York Times • Oct. 7, 2020
Classify the equation as a conditional equation, an identity, or a contradiction.
From Textbooks • Apr. 22, 2020
Classify and briefly characterize the amendments which have been appended to the constitution of your state.
From Problems in American Democracy by Williamson, Thames Ross
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.
