English Meaning & Definitions
To arrange or organize persons or things into groups or categories according to shared qualities or characteristics.
- “Librarians classify books by subject and author name.”
- “The museum decided to classify the artifacts by their historical period.”
To officially designate information or documents as confidential or secret so that access is restricted.
- “The government agency decided to classify the defense documents for security reasons.”
- “It took decades for the state department to unclassify the historical files.”
English Synonyms & Near Equivalents
English Antonyms & Opposites
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “classify”.
Early 17th century: from French classifier, from medieval Latin classis 'class' + facere 'to make'. Originally used in biological and natural history contexts to mean dividing organisms into taxonomic classes.
Think of sorting things into a 'class' to help you remember 'classify'.
Frequently Asked Questions About “classify”
1. What is the meaning of “classify” in English?
In English, classify (verb) is defined as: “To arrange or organize persons or things into groups or categories according to shared qualities or characteristics.”.
2. How do you use “classify” in a sentence?
“Librarians classify books by subject and author name.”
3. What are English synonyms of “classify”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “classify”?
Early 17th century: from French classifier, from medieval Latin classis 'class' + facere 'to make'. Originally used in biological and natural history contexts to mean dividing organisms into taxonomic classes.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.
A specific duration of time equivalent to one hour and forty-six minutes.