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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SORT, n. [L. sors, lot, chance, state, way, sort. This word is form the root of L. sortior; the radical sense of which is to start or shoot, to throw or to fall, to come suddenly. Hence sore is lot, chance, that which comes or falls. This sense of sort is probably derivative, signifying that which is thrown out, separated or selected.]
1. A kind or species; any number or collection of individual persons or thing characterized by the same or like qualities; as a sort of men; a sort of horses; a sort of trees; a sort of poems or writings. Sort is not a technical word, and therefore is used with less precision or more latitude than genus or species in the sciences.
2. Manner; form of being or acting. Flowers, in such sort worn, can neither be smelt not seen well by those that wear them. To Adam in what sort shall I appear?
3. Class or order; as men of the wiser sort, or the better sort; all sorts of people. [See Def. 1.]
4. Rank; condition above the vulgar. [Not in use.]
5. A company or knot of people. [Not in use.]
6. Degree of any quality. I shall not be wholly without praise, if in some sort I have copied his style.
7. Lot.
8. A pair; a set; a suit.
SORT, v.t.
1. To separate, as things having like qualities from other things, and place them in distinct classes or divisions; as, to sort cloths according to their colors; to sort wool or thread according to its fineness. Shell fish have been, be some of the ancients, compared and sorted with insects. Rays which differ in refrangibility may be parted and sorted from one another.
2. To reduce to order from a state of confusion. [See supra.]
3. To conjoin; to put together in distribution. The swain perceiving by her word ill sorted, that she was wholly from herself transported-
4. To cull; to choose from a number; to select. That he may sort her out a worthy spouse.
SORT, v.i.
1. To be joined with others of the same species. Nor do metals only sort with metals in the earth, and minerals with minerals.
2. To consort; to associate. The illiberality of parents towards children, makes them base and sort with any company.
3. To suit; to fit. They are happy whose natures sort with their vocations.
4. To terminate; to issue; to have success. [Not in use.]
5. To fall out. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality; "sculpture is a form of art"; "what kinds of desserts are there?" [syn: kind, sort, form, variety]
2: an approximate definition or example; "she wore a sort of magenta dress"; "she served a creamy sort of dessert thing"
3: a person of a particular character or nature; "what sort of person is he?"; "he's a good sort"
4: an operation that segregates items into groups according to a specified criterion; "the bottleneck in mail delivery is the process of sorting" [syn: sort, sorting] v
1: examine in order to test suitability; "screen these samples"; "screen the job applicants" [syn: screen, screen out, sieve, sort]
2: arrange or order by classes or categories; "How would you classify these pottery shards--are they prehistoric?" [syn: classify, class, sort, assort, sort out, separate]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, fate, lot, characteristic, from Latin sort-, sors lot, share, category — more at series Date: 14th century 1. a. a group set up on the basis of any characteristic in common ; class, kind b. one approximating the character or qualities of another <a sort of latter-day Abe Lincoln> c. person, individual <he's not a bad sort> 2. archaic group, company 3. a. archaic method or manner of acting ; way, manner b. character, nature <people of an evil sort> 4. a. a letter or character that is one element of a font b. a character or piece of type that is not part of a regular font 5. an instance of sorting <a numeric sort of a data file> Synonyms: see type II. verb Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. a. to put in a certain place or rank according to kind, class, or nature <sort apples> <sort mail> b. to arrange according to characteristics ; classify — usually used with out <sort out colors> 2. chiefly Scottish to put to rights ; put in order 3. a. to examine in order to clarify — used with out <sorting out his problems> b. to free of confusion ; clarify — used with out <waited until things sorted themselves out> intransitive verb 1. to join or associate with others especially of the same kind <sort with thieves> 2. agree, harmonize <his benign view sorts badly with reality — Henry Trewhitt> 3. search <sort through some old papers> • sortable adjective • sorter noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a group of things etc. with common attributes; a class or kind. 2 (foll. by of) roughly of the kind specified (is some sort of doctor). 3 colloq. a person of a specified character or kind (a good sort). 4 Printing a letter or piece in a fount of type. 5 Computing the arrangement of data in a prescribed sequence. 6 archaic a manner or way. --v.tr. (often foll. by out, over) arrange systematically or according to type, class, etc. Phrases and idioms: after a sort after a fashion. in some sort to a certain extent. of a sort (or of sorts) colloq. not fully deserving the name (a holiday of sorts). out of sorts 1 slightly unwell. 2 in low spirits; irritable. sort of colloq. as it were; to some extent (I sort of expected it). sort out 1 separate into sorts. 2 select (things of one or more sorts) from a miscellaneous group. 3 disentangle or put into order. 4 resolve (a problem or difficulty). 5 colloq. deal with or reprimand (a person). Derivatives: sortable adj. sorter n. sorting n. Etymology: ME f. OF sorte ult. f. L sors sortis lot, condition

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sort Sort, n. [F. sorl, L. sors, sortis. See Sort kind.] Chance; lot; destiny. [Obs.] By aventure, or sort, or cas [chance]. --Chaucer. Let blockish Ajax draw The sort to fight with Hector. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sort Sort, n. [F. sorie (cf. It. sorta, sorte), from L. sors, sorti, a lot, part, probably akin to serere to connect. See Series, and cf. Assort, Consort, Resort, Sorcery, Sort lot.] 1. A kind or species; any number or collection of individual persons or things characterized by the same or like qualities; a class or order; as, a sort of men; a sort of horses; a sort of trees; a sort of poems. 2. Manner; form of being or acting. Which for my part I covet to perform, In sort as through the world I did proclaim. --Spenser. Flowers, in such sort worn, can neither be smelt nor seen well by those that wear them. --Hooker. I'll deceive you in another sort. --Shak. To Adam in what sort Shall I appear? --Milton. I shall not be wholly without praise, if in some sort I have copied his style. --Dryden. 3. Condition above the vulgar; rank. [Obs.] --Shak. 4. A chance group; a company of persons who happen to be together; a troop; also, an assemblage of animals. [Obs.] ``A sort of shepherds.'' --Spenser. ``A sort of steers.'' --Spenser. ``A sort of doves.'' --Dryden. ``A sort of rogues.'' --Massinger. A boy, a child, and we a sort of us, Vowed against his voyage. --Chapman. 5. A pair; a set; a suit. --Johnson. 6. pl. (Print.) Letters, figures, points, marks, spaces, or quadrats, belonging to a case, separately considered. Out of sorts (Print.), with some letters or sorts of type deficient or exhausted in the case or font; hence, colloquially, out of order; ill; vexed; disturbed. To run upon sorts (Print.), to use or require a greater number of some particular letters, figures, or marks than the regular proportion, as, for example, in making an index. Syn: Kind; species; rank; condition. Usage: Sort, Kind. Kind originally denoted things of the same family, or bound together by some natural affinity; and hence, a class. Sort signifies that which constitutes a particular lot of parcel, not implying necessarily the idea of affinity, but of mere assemblage. the two words are now used to a great extent interchangeably, though sort (perhaps from its original meaning of lot) sometimes carries with it a slight tone of disparagement or contempt, as when we say, that sort of people, that sort of language.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sort Sort, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sorted; p. pr. & vb. n. Sorting.] 1. To separate, and place in distinct classes or divisions, as things having different qualities; as, to sort cloths according to their colors; to sort wool or thread according to its fineness. Rays which differ in refrangibility may be parted and sorted from one another. --Sir I. Newton. 2. To reduce to order from a confused state. --Hooker. 3. To conjoin; to put together in distribution; to class. Shellfish have been, by some of the ancients, compared and sorted with insects. --Bacon. She sorts things present with things past. --Sir J. Davies. 4. To choose from a number; to select; to cull. That he may sort out a worthy spouse. --Chapman. I'll sort some other time to visit you. --Shak. 5. To conform; to adapt; to accommodate. [R.] I pray thee, sort thy heart to patience. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sort Sort, v. i. 1. To join or associate with others, esp. with others of the same kind or species; to agree. Nor do metals only sort and herd with metals in the earth, and minerals with minerals. --Woodward. The illiberality of parents towards children makes them base, and sort with any company. --Bacon. 2. To suit; to fit; to be in accord; to harmonize. They are happy whose natures sort with their vocations. --Bacon. Things sort not to my will. --herbert. I can not tell you precisely how they sorted. --Sir W. Scott.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(sorts, sorting, sorted) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. If you talk about a particular sort of something, you are talking about a class of things that have particular features in common and that belong to a larger group of related things. What sort of school did you go to?... There are so many different sorts of mushrooms available these days... He had a nice, serious sort of smile... That's just the sort of abuse that he will be investigating... Eddie was playing a game of some sort... = type, kind N-COUNT: with supp, usu N of n 2. You describe someone as a particular sort when you are describing their character. He seemed to be just the right sort for the job... She was a very vigorous sort of person... What sort of men were they? = type, kind N-SING: with supp 3. If you sort things, you separate them into different classes, groups, or places, for example so that you can do different things with them. The students are sorted into three ability groups... He unlatched the box and sorted through the papers... I sorted the laundry. VERB: be V-ed into n, V through n, V n 4. If you get a problem or the details of something sorted, you do what is necessary to solve the problem or organize the details. (INFORMAL) I'm trying to get my script sorted... = sort out VERB: usu passive, get n V-ed 5. All sorts of things or people means a large number of different things or people. There are all sorts of animals, including bears, pigs, kangaroos, and penguins... Self-help groups of all sorts have been running for more than 20 years. PHRASE 6. If you describe something as a thing of sorts or as a thing of a sort, you are suggesting that the thing is of a rather poor quality or standard. He made a living of sorts selling pancakes from a van... PHRASE: n PHR 7. You use sort of when you want to say that your description of something is not very accurate. (INFORMAL) You could even order windows from a catalogue–a sort of mail order stained glass service... PHRASE [vagueness] 8. to sort the wheat from the chaff: see chaff nothing of the sort: see nothing

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Species, kind. 2. Kind, species, description, class, denomination, character, nature, order, race, rank. 3. Manner, way. 4. Degree, manner. II. v. a. 1. Distribute (into sorts), assort, class, classify, arrange. 2. Order, reduce to order, arrange. 3. Conjoin, join, put together. 4. Select, choose, elect, pick out. III. v. n. 1. Associate, consort, fraternize. 2. Suit, fit, accord, be in harmony with, agree with, be adapted to. 3. Issue, fall out, terminate. 4. Agree.

Moby Thesaurus

adjust, ailing, alphabetize, analyze, appraise, arrange, array, assess, assort, batch, battery, blood, body, body-build, bolt, brand, break down, breed, bulk, cast, catalog, catalogue, categorize, category, character, characteristic, characteristics, characterize, choose, clan, clarify, class, classification, classify, clear up, clutch, codify, collate, color, comb, combine, complexion, composition, constituents, constitution, contradistinguish, crasis, cull, decide, demarcate, demark, denomination, describe, description, designation, dharma, diathesis, differentiate, digest, discriminate, disposition, distinguish, divide, draw the line, enlarge, ethos, evaluate, factor, family, feather, fiber, file, form, frame, gauge, genius, genre, genus, gradate, grade, graduate, grain, group, habit, hue, humor, humors, identify, ilk, index, indisposed, individual, kidney, kin, kind, label, line, list, lot, low, make, makeup, manner, mark, mark the interface, match, measure, merge, mold, mould, nature, number, of a sort, of sorts, order, organize, out of sorts, parcel, person, persuasion, phylum, physique, pick, pick out, pigeonhole, place, property, proportion, put straight, quality, race, range, rank, rate, resolve, riddle, screen, screen out, segregate, select, separate, set, set a limit, set apart, set off, set straight, sever, severalize, shape, sieve, sieve out, sift, sift out, size, solve, somatotype, somewhat, sort of, sort out, species, spirit, split hairs, stamp, stock, straighten out, strain, streak, stripe, style, subdivide, subgenus, subordinate, subspecies, subtilize, suchness, suite, system, systematize, systemize, tabulate, temper, temperament, tendency, tenor, the like of, the likes of, thing, thrash out, throw, tidy up, tone, tribe, type, under the weather, unwell, variety, vein, way, weigh, winnow