categorize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to arrange in categories or classes; classify.
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to describe by labeling or giving a name to; characterize.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of categorize
First recorded in 1695–1705; categor(y) + -ize
Explanation
If you decided to categorize your wardrobe, you could sort it by type (pants or shirts), or by color. To categorize is to put something into a category. When you think of categorizing things, imagine taking a pile of marbles and putting them into little boxes by color. You are sorting things by how they are alike. Scientists categorize animals and plants by their properties. Doctors categorize illnesses by whether they are caused by viruses or bacteria. In movies, high school students are often categorized as jocks, popular kids, troublemakers, and geeks.
Vocabulary lists containing categorize
Vocabulary of the Common Core
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Content Summary G.2: Regionalization
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Content Summary 5.1: Causes of the Atlantic Revolutions
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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.
Drucker explores the different roles inside every business, which I would categorize as builders, sellers and measurers.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026
Soon, the word became a stand-in for “catchy,” shorthand that could be used to categorize just about any song with a single word.
From Salon • May 10, 2026
“To categorize this almost like a self-driving car is inaccurate,” Thorrington said.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 31, 2026
AI has enhanced the process by being able to recognize different types of documents and fonts, and by learning how to classify or categorize the data so it can enter it into a tax return.
From Barron's • Jan. 31, 2026
I could picture his excitement at finding a flower he couldn't categorize, growing in some lonely, desolate part of Iraq.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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.
