Synonyms

stratify

American

[strat-uh-fahy] / ˈstræt əˌfaɪ /

verb (used with object)

to form or place in strata or layers.
to preserve or germinate (seeds) by placing them between layers of earth.
Sociology. to arrange in a hierarchical order, especially according to graded status levels.

verb (used without object)

to form strata.
Geology. to lie in beds or layers.
Sociology. to develop hierarchically, especially as graded status levels.

stratify British

/ ˈstrætɪˌfaɪ /

verb

to form or be formed in layers or strata
(tr) to preserve or render fertile (seeds) by storing between layers of sand or earth
sociol to divide (a society) into horizontal status groups or (of a society) to develop such groups

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Etymology

Origin of stratify

1655–65; modeled on New Latin strātificāre, equivalent to strāti- strati- + -ficāre -fy

Explanation

Stratify means to divide into layers or classes. Announcing pay raises for only half of the employees in a company would be a quick way to stratify the office. Stratify is often used in the context of geology, when materials in the earth’s crust stratify, or form layers. This phenomenon serves as an apt metaphor for other uses of the word, particularly as it's applied to social situations. If you attend a party for geologists and notice that the mineralogists are ignoring the petrologists (and the vulcanologist didn’t even bother to show up), you might conclude that something has caused this group of geologists to stratify.

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Vocabulary lists containing stratify

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States

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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.

See Examples For:

stratify stratifies stratified stratifying

Companies across the board are facing a misalignment between the way traditional corporate org charts stratify skills and getting the most out of AI.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025

And the most recent study found that certain blood biomarkers may help researchers stratify patients for different treatments.

From Salon ● Jan. 3, 2025

"Aside from potentially predicting future psychosis onset, biomarkers could also help stratify patients into clinically meaningful subgroups and suggest new options for treatment or intervention."

From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024

But selling verification and higher visibility would "stratify" Twitter.

From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2022

THE SECRETARY: When you stratify these nuts where do you keep them?

From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Fifteenth Annual Meeting New York City, September 3, 4 and 5, 1924 by Northern Nut Growers Association

The textbook view of the oceans stratifies them into layers according to depth.

From Scientific American ● Jul. 20, 2022

During the summer months, the lake water stratifies, or forms layers, with the warmest water at the lake surface.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

Because education increasingly stratifies society, so it should diligently transmit commonalities conducive to social cohesion.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 10, 2017

During the summer months, the lake water stratifies, or forms layers of temperature, with the warmest water at the lake surface.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

Ah, the brain stratifies and matures, even in the pauses of the pen.

From Life and Letters of Robert Browning by Robert Browning

Here’s a visual representation of how spending has been stratified among economic classes in recent years.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 3, 2026

For instance, while it is by no means an eat-the-rich manifesto, the musical explores how financially stratified New York—and London and other cities—has become.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025

I think what’s bothered me about romance is that people have these stratified steps and a playbook and rules.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2025

While the upper, water-rich layer likely convects to produce the observed disorganized magnetic field, the deeper, stratified hydrocarbon-rich layer cannot.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 25, 2024

It is true that our society is stratified, and very rigidly stratified, on what at first sight appear to be hereditary lines.

From "1984" by George Orwell

Square Enix took the low-resolution prerendered dioramas of the original game — gorgeous in their own right — and zoomed in, stratifying them with detail and depth, adding craggy peaks, dense jungles and sun-baked deserts.

From New York Times ● Feb. 22, 2024

Even for those whose work allows unpaid leave to heal from loss, the lack of income disproportionately affects those living in financial precarity, effectively stratifying the grief process.

From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2019

Companies that used to have only red are branching out; companies that used to specialize in variety are stratifying.

From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2015

Another group making good headway in stratifying risk is based at the University Hospital of Salamanca in Spain.

From Nature ● Dec. 14, 2011

In stratifying chestnuts we keep them between layers of wire mesh, for mice are very fond of these nuts.

From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Fifteenth Annual Meeting New York City, September 3, 4 and 5, 1924 by Northern Nut Growers Association

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023