categorize

/ˈkæɾəgəraɪz/

/ˈkætəgəraɪz/

Other forms: categorized; categorizing; categorizes

If you decided to categorize your wardrobe, you could sort it by type (pants or shirts), or by color. To categorize is to put something into a category.

When you think of categorizing things, imagine taking a pile of marbles and putting them into little boxes by color. You are sorting things by how they are alike. Scientists categorize animals and plants by their properties. Doctors categorize illnesses by whether they are caused by viruses or bacteria. In movies, high school students are often categorized as jocks, popular kids, troublemakers, and geeks.

Definitions of categorize

1. verb

   place into or assign to a category
   “Children learn early on to categorize”

   synonyms: categorise

   types:

   assort, class, classify, separate, sort, sort out

   arrange or order by classes or categories

   unitise, unitize

   separate or classify into units

   catalog, catalogue

   make an itemized list or catalog of; classify

   isolate

   separate (experiences) from the emotions relating to them

   refer

   think of, regard, or classify under a subsuming principle or with a general group or in relation to another

   reclassify

   classify anew, change the previous classification

   size

   sort according to size

   dichotomise, dichotomize

   divide into two opposing groups or kinds

   pigeonhole, stamp, stereotype

   treat or classify according to a mental stereotype

   group

   arrange into a group or groups

   grade

   determine the grade of or assign a grade to

   count, number

   put into a group

   type of:

   reason

   think logically