classify

American  

[klas-uh-fahy] / ˈklæs əˌfaɪ /

verb (used with object)

classifies, present (3rd person singular) classified, past participle, past classifying present participle

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

   Synonyms:

   group, categorize, rate, rank, class

2. to assign a classification to (information, a document, etc.).

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

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classify British  

/ ˈklæsɪˌfaɪ /

verb

1. to arrange or order by classes; categorize

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• classifier
  noun
• unclassifiableness
  noun
• misclassify
  verb (used with object)
• overclassify
  verb (used with object)
• preclassify
  verb (used with object)
• classifiable
  adjective
• nonclassifiable
  adjective
• unclassifiable
  adjective
• unclassifying
  adjective
• unclassifiably
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• classifying
  present
• classified
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• classify
  simple
• classifies
  simple
• have classified
  perfect
• has classified
  perfect
• am classifying
  progressive
• are classifying
  progressive
• is classifying
  progressive
• have been classifying
  perfect progressive
• has been classifying
  perfect progressive

Past

• classified
  simple
• had classified
  perfect
• was classifying
  progressive
• were classifying
  progressive
• had been classifying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will classify
  simple
• will have classified
  perfect
• will be classifying
  progressive
• will have been classifying
  perfect progressive

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.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

classify classifies classified classifying

All of them must have pedals to classify as an e-bike.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

Critics say Japan also differs from many other countries by having out-of-date building regulations that can classify data centres as offices and not industrial facilities.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

Speaking on state television, she said the group would determine who could return home using a colour-coded traffic light system to classify safety.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026

Nadine Dupérré of the Museum of Nature Hamburg at LIB contributed to the research by examining reference specimens from scientific collections and helping classify the new species.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 17, 2026

Always classify the interval as it is written; the composer had a reason for writing it that way.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

That’s far from the 20% drop that classifies a bear market, Mayfield pointed out.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 12, 2026

The European Chemicals Agency classifies the chemical as harmful to aquatic life.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 9, 2026

That is because Dakhla is in Western Sahara, an area which the United Nations classifies as a "non-self-governing territory".

From BBC ● May 24, 2026

For some owners, the reckoning comes gradually—an animal that no longer fits through a dog door, a fence that needs reinforcing, a zoning notice from a town that classifies pigs as livestock.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026

In Plato’s allegory of the metals, the philosopher classifies men into groups of gold, silver, and lead.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

In the survey, 82% of respondents reported that odors were “very strong”; 16% classified odors as strong; and 2% reported “moderate or light odors.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Some clinics call it the “wolverine compound” because of its healing properties, though New Zealand has recommended that BPC-157 is classified as a prescription drug.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

In such cases, it is up to regulators and clubs to make their respective arguments over how the arrangement should be classified.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

Kalshi said in a filing on Tuesday that, contrary to the CME’s contentions, contracts don’t need a fixed expiration date to be legally classified as futures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

You cant go alone on a classified mission, June, he would say.

From "Legend" by Marie Lu

Later in the fall, OpenAI changed the designation of GPT-5, classifying it as less dangerous.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

The region, made up of mountains surrounded by a desert steppe, receives just over 100 millimeters of annual rainfall, classifying it as an desert.

From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026

In Kentucky, lawmakers recently passed a bill classifying TV-viewing patterns as “sensitive data” deserving of broader legal protections and transparency measures.

From Slate ● May 3, 2026

In the second half of the 19th Century, photography became one of the British Empire's most persuasive instruments for knowing - and classifying - India.

From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2026

She was tasked with sorting and classifying them, with her unit’s help.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Related Words

• allocate
• analyze
• arrange
• distribute
• divide
• label
• organize
• segregate