organize

American  

[awr-guh-nahyz] / ˈɔr gəˌnaɪz /

especially British, organise

verb (used with object)

• organizes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• organized,
  past participle,  past
• organizing
  present participle

1. to form as or into a whole consisting of interdependent or coordinated parts, especially for united action.

   to organize a committee.

   Synonyms:

   frame, dispose

   Antonyms:

   destroy

2. to systematize.

   to organize the files of an office.

   Synonyms:

   order

3. to give organic structure or character to.

   Cells become differentiated and organized into tissues.

4. to enlist or attempt to enlist into a labor union.

   to organize workers.

5. to enlist the employees of (a company) into a labor union; unionize.

   to organize a factory.

6. Informal. to put (oneself ) in a state of mental competence to perform a task.

   We can't have any slip-ups, so you'd better get organized.

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verb (used without object)

• organizes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• organized,
  past participle,  past
• organizing
  present participle

1. to combine in an organized company, party, or the like.

2. to form a labor union.

   Management resisted all efforts to organize.

3. to assume organic structure.

organize British  

/ ˈɔːɡəˌnaɪz /

verb

1. to form (parts or elements of something) into a structured whole; coordinate

2. (tr) to arrange methodically or in order

3. (tr) to provide with an organic structure

4. (tr) to enlist (the workers) of (a factory, concern, or industry) in a trade union

5. (intr) to join or form an organization or trade union

6. informal (tr) to put (oneself) in an alert and responsible frame of mind

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• organizability
  noun
• misorganize
  verb
• preorganize
  verb
• outorganize
  verb (used with object)
• organizable
  adjective
• unorganizable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• organizing
  present
• organized
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• organize
  simple
• organizes
  simple
• have organized
  perfect
• has organized
  perfect
• am organizing
  progressive
• are organizing
  progressive
• is organizing
  progressive
• have been organizing
  perfect progressive
• has been organizing
  perfect progressive

Past

• organized
  simple
• had organized
  perfect
• was organizing
  progressive
• were organizing
  progressive
• had been organizing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will organize
  simple
• will have organized
  perfect
• will be organizing
  progressive
• will have been organizing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of organize

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Medieval Latin organizāre “to contrive, arrange,” equivalent to organ(um) organ + -izāre -ize

Explanation

If you systematically put something in order, you organize it. Your family might not understand the way you organize your kitchen if you keep shoelaces, dental floss, and a screwdriver in your silverware drawer. The verb organize also means to plan or orchestrate something. If you've agreed to organize the German club's bake sale, you'll probably spend some serious time transporting cupcakes and linzer torte to school. When a group of workers forms a union, this action is also described with the verb organize. The International Ladies Garment Workers Union, for example, was organized in 1900 in New York City by immigrant factory workers.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

organize organizes organized organizing

Rich Moore helped organize the flow of money to Walter from insurers, arrangements that are now under federal scrutiny.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

A charge density wave develops when electric charges such as electrons spontaneously organize into a repeating wave pattern.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

She helps organize an effort to “deflock” Lowe’s, one of the company’s largest commercial clients.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

Businesses can tweak it to operate it entirely on their own devices and create AI assistants that manage schedules, draft messages and organize files.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

“Hana and Jane were kind enough to help me organize this evening,” Mom said, oblivious to how uncomfortable the whole thing was making me.

From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan

"Understanding how matter organizes itself under extreme quantum conditions gives us new tools for designing and controlling quantum systems. While this is fundamental research, discoveries like this often become the foundation for tomorrow's quantum technologies."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026

The 32-year-old is a member of the parish’s Guadalupana committee, which organizes the festivities and prayers around the Virgin of Guadalupe’s feast day every December.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

"There is chaos because some people don't even know what district they might be in now," said the pastor, who organizes civic education sessions for congregants.

From Barron's ● Aug. 8, 2026

Instead, it offers new insights into how the brain organizes decision making that could eventually inspire future AI architectures.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 13, 2026

In the latter case it is often government that organizes the conquest, and religion that justifies it.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

AI allowed Levanon to obtain information faster and in more organized form.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

This is "a fairly new phenomenon in Bolivia," a "very safe country until a few years ago," Joaquin Chacin, an investigator specializing in organized crime, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

They can make extremely fast 90° turns, helping them scan broad areas of a sample in an organized and efficient way.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 18, 2026

Those priorities soon changed, however, and he was playing organized soccer before he entered kindergarten, then joined CF Montreal’s youth academy before he entered high school.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

New Mexico and Utah are organized as territories with no restrictions on slavery.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

Late last year, Hinojosa saw rural Texans organizing against data centers and began talking about it on the campaign trail.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Since 2002, organizing committees have been required to put together joint bids to host both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, using the same venues, facilities and infrastructure.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

These catalogs are designed to make specialized scientific investigations easier by organizing and enhancing information derived from the main survey data.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026

Eleven people were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly organizing hundreds of sham marriages for foreigners seeking US residency, mostly Chinese nationals, officials said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

Kok, a Dutch businessman of extreme wealth, was president of a Belgium-based banking company, SWIFT, and was responsible for organizing several international tournaments.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Related Words

• construct
• coordinate
• create
• establish
• form
• formulate
• regulate
• run
• set up