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

“I was able to organize my work better after I’d got my spiritual life organized,” she told one interviewer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Clients often hear financial planners talk in terms of designating different buckets of money to organize a portfolio.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026

Gallium is also valuable because it can dissolve other metals, making it useful for producing liquid metal catalysts and `self-assembling structures,' in which disordered materials spontaneously organize themselves into ordered forms.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026

That’s also true of agencies that guarantee safety of consumer products, that protect workers’ right to organize, that prohibit discrimination.

From Slate ● Jul. 6, 2026

“Please. We're trying to organize, and Zayd’s making a bigger mess.”

From "Zara’s Rules for Record-Breaking Fun" by Hena Khan

Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents Association which organizes the dinner, said in June as she announced the re-do that "we will not allow an act of violence to have the last word."

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

Their new work offers insights into how the brain organizes itself during development and could eventually influence research in fields ranging from biology to artificial intelligence.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 25, 2026

Everlab’s platform ingests and organizes documents and data from doctors, specialists and pathologists, compiling patient records that it augments with real-time data from users’ existing wearable devices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

For now, the overhaul represents a quiet but notable shift in how one of the country’s largest institutions organizes one of its most personal categories: belief.

From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026

He organizes an exhibition of painters he loves at the Grand Bouillon-Restaurant du Chalet.

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman

A longtime ally of organized labor, Jackson also had Maine unions heavily organizing for him.

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026

Glenn participated in a protest organized by Stop the AI Race.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

Archaeological evidence indicates that Shimao had a strongly stratified society with organized political and social systems.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026

"Then he organized telescope time, got the data, and the detection was statistically rock solid."

From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026

Professionals are positive, action oriented, opened minded, poised, adaptable, respectful, self-regulated, empathic, organized, prepared, and collaborative.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Holliday spends her volunteer time socializing over coffee and the newspaper, helping residents run errands, leading fitness classes on Saturday mornings and organizing game nights.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026

Similarly, the group Our Revolution, which was founded as a way to carry forward the grassroots organizing behind Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, has thrown its organizing capacity behind Jackson’s candidacy.

From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026

Newport Beach’s Police Assn. blamed social media for a viral “TikTok takeover,” though in that instance, it’s unknown how many posts were made or how the organizing took place.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

He had no experience in elected office, no notable history of activist organizing, no college degree, no significant success in the private sector, not even a record of pulling himself up by his proverbial bootstraps.

From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026

Thanks to Pearl Ann Larkin for organizing the effort before she heads off to college.

From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool

Related Words

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