Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “sort” come from?

Sort comes from Old French sortir, from Latin sortire meaning to draw lots, derived from Latin sors meaning fate or lot, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European seh₁- and ser-.

sort (English): A general type; Manner; form of being or acting;...

Definitions

  1. A general type; Manner; form of being or acting;...

Ancestry of “sort”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishsort—
2Old Frenchsortesort; type
3Italiansortasort, type, kind; feminine singular past...
4Latinsorsanything used to determine chances, lot; a...
5Latinlegeresecond-person singular future passive indicative...
6Latinlegō—
7Latinlēx—
8Proto-Italiclēg-—
9Proto-Indo-Europeanleǵ-s—
10Proto-Indo-Europeanleǵ-to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to...

Words derived from “sort”

  • sorting
  • sorter
  • sortal
  • quicksort
  • sortable
  • heapsort
  • mergesort
  • presort
  • sortation
  • sortase
  • sorteth
  • Shellsort
  • woolsorter
  • besort
  • unsortable
  • sortance
  • sortability
  • nonsortal
  • missort
  • immunosorting
  • sortably
  • immunosort
  • smoothsort
  • serosorting
Every word from Proto-Indo-European leǵ- →