Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'sort' is a versatile term, with various meanings and uses across different cultures and languages. At its core, 'sort' generally refers to a class, group, or type of something, or a particular manner or way in which something is done. Its significance extends beyond mere categorization, as it often implies a certain order or system in one's understanding of the world.
Throughout history, the concept of 'sort' has played a crucial role in many fields, from philosophy and science to art and literature. For instance, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle developed a system of categorizing living things into different 'sorts' or 'genera,' which remains influential to this day. Similarly, in mathematics, the concept of 'sorting' is essential to organizing and analyzing data.
Given the cultural importance of 'sort,' it's no surprise that many languages have their own translations for this term. For example, in Spanish, 'sort' can be translated as 'tipo' or 'clase,' while in French, it can be translated as 'type' or 'genre.' Understanding these translations can help us appreciate the nuances of different languages and cultures, and deepen our appreciation for the richness of human communication.
Afrikaans | sorteer | ||
The Afrikaans word "sorteer" is derived from the French word "sorte," meaning "fate, destiny," or "lot," and is also related to the English word "sort." | |||
Amharic | ደርድር | ||
The word 'ደርድር' comes from the root 'ደረደ', meaning 'to arrange', indicating a process of ordering or categorizing. | |||
Hausa | raba | ||
Hausa "raba" also means "sort of" or "to be enough". | |||
Igbo | ụdị | ||
The word "ụdị" can also mean "style" or "manner" in Igbo. | |||
Malagasy | sort | ||
In Malagasy, the word "sort" (karazana) can also refer to a subspecies or race within a species. | |||
Nyanja (Chichewa) | mtundu | ||
In English, "mtundu" is also used to refer to a particular type of African dance originating from Malawi and Zambia. | |||
Shona | ronga | ||
The word "ronga" can also mean "type" or "kind" in Shona. | |||
Somali | kala sooc | ||
The word "kala sooc" is also used to describe the process of selecting or filtering items. | |||
Sesotho | hlopha | ||
The word "hlopha" can also mean "to select" or "to choose" in Sesotho. | |||
Swahili | aina | ||
The Swahili word 'aina' can also refer to a category or a type, similar to the English word 'kind'. | |||
Xhosa | uhlobo | ||
The word "uhlobo" can also mean "species" or "kind" in Xhosa. | |||
Yoruba | too | ||
The Yoruba word "too" can also mean "to arrange" or "to set in order." | |||
Zulu | hlunga | ||
The word "hlunga" in Zulu also means "to winnow", which involves separating the chaff from the grain. | |||
Bambara | ka woloma | ||
Ewe | ɖo | ||
Kinyarwanda | ubwoko | ||
Lingala | kotya na molongo | ||
Luganda | engeri | ||
Sepedi | hlopha | ||
Twi (Akan) | yiyi mu | ||
Arabic | فرز | ||
The word "فرز" can also mean "separation", "distinction", "analysis", "discrimination", "choice", "selection", or "classification" | |||
Hebrew | סוג | ||
The Hebrew word סוג also means "style," a common meaning in Yiddish. | |||
Pashto | ډول | ||
The Pashto word ډول (ḍōl) is related to the Persian word "dol" which means "bowl," but can also be used as a verb meaning "to pour (something) into a bowl" | |||
Arabic | فرز | ||
The word "فرز" can also mean "separation", "distinction", "analysis", "discrimination", "choice", "selection", or "classification" |
Albanian | rendit | ||
The word "rendit" can also mean "row". It comes from the Proto-Albanian word *rind- | |||
Basque | ordenatu | ||
The Basque word "ordenatu" also means "to tidy up" or "to organize" | |||
Catalan | ordenar | ||
"Ordenar" derives from medieval Latin "ordināre", meaning to arrange systematically. Its use in Catalan mirrors this sense. | |||
Croatian | vrsta | ||
The word "vrsta" can also mean "line" or "row" in a sequence or arrangement. | |||
Danish | sortere | ||
The word "sortere" shares its root with "sort" in English, referring to the process of organizing or categorizing various items. | |||
Dutch | soort | ||
The Dutch word "soort" has its origins in the Old French word "sorte", meaning "fate" or "lot". | |||
English | sort | ||
The word "sort" originally meant "a group of people" or "a class of things". | |||
French | trier | ||
The term “trier” in French also signifies a “tray, sieve.” | |||
Frisian | sortearje | ||
The word "sortearje" in Frisian can also refer to a lottery or drawing of lots, similar to its meaning in Spanish. | |||
Galician | ordenar | ||
The Galician word "ordenar" can also mean "to order" or "to tidy up". | |||
German | sortieren | ||
The word "Sortieren" is derived from the Latin word "sortes", meaning "lot" or "chance". | |||
Icelandic | raða | ||
The word "raða" has a wide range of meanings, including "to place in order", "to arrange", and "to decide". | |||
Irish | sórtáil | ||
Irish "sórtáil" shares a root with "suirt" (sort), but is also used to mean "to tidy, to sort, or to clean". | |||
Italian | ordinare | ||
The term "ordinare" in Italian also holds meanings of "orderly," "regular," and "precise." | |||
Luxembourgish | sortéieren | ||
Maltese | issortja | ||
Issortja can also mean "fate" or "lot" in Maltese. | |||
Norwegian | sortere | ||
The Norwegian word "sortere" also has the alternate meaning "to file" in English. | |||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | ordenar | ||
The verb "ordenar" in Portuguese originates from the Latin word "ordinare," which also means "to arrange" or "to put in order." | |||
Scots Gaelic | seòrsa | ||
In Scots Gaelic, "seòrsa" can also refer to gender, kind, or a particular type. | |||
Spanish | ordenar | ||
The Spanish word "ordenar" comes from the Latin word "ordinare" and also means "to ordain" or "to consecrate" in a religious context. | |||
Swedish | sortera | ||
The Swedish verb "sortera" originates from the French word "assorter", meaning "to combine". | |||
Welsh | didoli | ||
Didoli is said to derive from the English diddle "to cheat" but was probably influenced by the older didolo from diddl 'to go about idly'. |
Belarusian | сартаваць | ||
The word "сартаваць" (sort) comes from the verb "сáртаваць" (to pick out), which in turn derives from the noun "сáрта" (a bundle of straw or hay). | |||
Bosnian | sortirati | ||
In Bosnian, "sortirati" also has a second meaning: "to go out". | |||
Bulgarian | вид | ||
The word "вид" can also mean "species", "type", or "kind" in Bulgarian. | |||
Czech | třídit | ||
The word "třídit" is derived from the Proto-Slavic root "*tьrti" and is also the origin of the Polish "trzeć" (to rub), Russian "тереть" (to rub), and Ukrainian "терти" (to rub). | |||
Estonian | sorteerida | ||
In addition to “sort,” “sorteerida” can also mean “to select.” | |||
Finnish | järjestellä | ||
The word "järjestellä" also means "set up" or "arrange". | |||
Hungarian | fajta | ||
The word also has a meaning of "fight" and originated from the Turkish word " | |||
Latvian | kārtot | ||
In Latvian, the word “kārtot” can mean “sort,” but it can also mean “fix,” “arrange,” or “tidy up.” | |||
Lithuanian | rūšiuoti | ||
"Rūšiuoti" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *rew-, meaning "to separate". | |||
Macedonian | сортирај | ||
The Macedonian verb "сортирај" has an archaic meaning of "choose", and its root "сорт" also means "kind" or "category". | |||
Polish | sortować | ||
The verb "sortować" also relates to the Polish nouns "sort" and "sortowanie". | |||
Romanian | fel | ||
"Fel" also means "kind" or "type" in Romanian, and comes from the Latin word "felis" meaning "cat". | |||
Russian | сортировать | ||
The word "Сортировать" can also mean "to classify" or "to arrange in order". | |||
Serbian | врста | ||
У пољопривреди, врсте такође означава стадо или крдо стоке. | |||
Slovak | triediť | ||
The Slovak word "triediť" comes from the Proto-Slavic root *trědъ, which also meant "to divide". Modern derivations in Czech and Polish retain this meaning. | |||
Slovenian | razvrsti | ||
It is cognate with the Russian word "рассчитать" (raschitat), which means "to calculate". | |||
Ukrainian | сортувати | ||
The word 'сортувати' is derived from the Latin word 'surdere', which means 'to rise'. It can also be used to describe the process of separating different types of objects or items into different groups. |
Bengali | সাজান | ||
The Bengali word "সাজান" ("sort") is derived from the Sanskrit root "sajj", meaning "to adorn" or "to make ready". | |||
Gujarati | સ .ર્ટ કરો | ||
The word "સ .ર્ટ કરો" in Gujarati is derived from the English word "sort", which also means "a type of beer". | |||
Hindi | तरह | ||
"तरह" (sort) in Hindi is cognate with the Persian word "tarah" (manner, style), and also means "way, manner, or method". | |||
Kannada | ವಿಂಗಡಿಸಿ | ||
The word "ವಿಂಗಡಿಸಿ" can also mean "separate" or "distinguish" in Kannada. | |||
Malayalam | അടുക്കുക | ||
The word "അടുക്കുക" in Malayalam also means "to gather" or "to assemble". | |||
Marathi | क्रमवारी लावा | ||
The Marathi word "क्रमवारी लावा" ("sort") derives from "क्रमवार" ("serial, ordered") and "लावणे" ("to apply, arrange") indicating the organization of items into a specific order. | |||
Nepali | क्रमबद्ध | ||
The term 'क्रमबद्ध' originated from the Sanskrit word 'क्रम' meaning order or series, and is used to describe the process of arranging something in a particular order or sequence for easy access or understanding. | |||
Punjabi | ਲੜੀਬੱਧ | ||
The Punjabi word 'ਲੜੀਬੱਧ' (sort) is derived from the Sanskrit word 'शृंखला' (shrnkhala), meaning 'chain' or 'line', suggesting a sense of order or sequence. | |||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) | වර්ග කිරීම | ||
Tamil | வகைபடுத்து | ||
The word "வகைபடுத்து" can also mean "classify" or "categorize". | |||
Telugu | క్రమబద్ధీకరించు | ||
Urdu | ترتیب دیں | ||
Chinese (Simplified) | 分类 | ||
Chinese characters "分类” originated from the word "分晰", which means "analysis", and the word "类别", which means "category". "分晰" then evolved to "分类" in the process of long-time use, and thus "分类" retains the meaning of analysis and categorization. | |||
Chinese (Traditional) | 分類 | ||
In Japanese Kanji, it means type, class, style, category, or group but literally means “kind of thing divided into two groups for comparison.” | |||
Japanese | ソート | ||
In Japanese, the word ソート (sort) can also refer to a "lot" or a "kind". | |||
Korean | 종류 | ||
"종류" can also mean a kind, a species, a genre. | |||
Mongolian | ангилах | ||
The word | |||
Myanmar (Burmese) | မျိုး | ||
Indonesian | menyortir | ||
Menyortir is also used to describe separating something based on its size, shape or color. | |||
Javanese | ngurutake | ||
In Javanese, the word 'ngurutake' also means 'to select', 'to sort out', and 'to arrange'. | |||
Khmer | តម្រៀប | ||
The word តម្រៀប can also mean "to arrange" or "to put in order" in Khmer. | |||
Lao | ຄັດ | ||
The word "ຄັດ" also means "to select" or "to choose". | |||
Malay | menyusun | ||
The word "menyusun" in Malay can also mean to compile or compose. | |||
Thai | เรียงลำดับ | ||
The Thai word "เรียงลำดับ" literally translates to "to arrange in order" indicating its most common usage | |||
Vietnamese | sắp xếp | ||
"Sắp xếp" can also mean "to arrange". The word is derived from the Chinese words "sắp" (to arrange) and "xếp" (to put in order). | |||
Filipino (Tagalog) | uri | ||
Azerbaijani | cür | ||
The word "cür" in Azerbaijani can also refer to a type of fermented dairy product similar to ayran. | |||
Kazakh | сұрыптау | ||
The Kazakh word "сұрыптау" is also used in the context of separating grains from chaff. | |||
Kyrgyz | сорттоо | ||
While the word "сорттоо" primarily denotes "sorting" in Kyrgyz, it can also refer to "separating" or "selecting" different types of objects. | |||
Tajik | навъ | ||
This word may be related to a verb that means to "put" or "set" in the Sogdian language. | |||
Turkmen | sort | ||
Uzbek | saralash | ||
The word "saralash" can also refer to the process of sifting or separating out the better or more useful parts of something. | |||
Uyghur | sort | ||
Hawaiian | hoʻokaʻawale | ||
The word "hoʻokaʻawale" also means "to separate" or "to set apart" in Hawaiian. | |||
Maori | kōmaka | ||
The word "kōmaka" can also mean "to assemble" or "to gather". | |||
Samoan | faʻavasega | ||
Faʻavasega, meaning "sort," comes from "vasega," which means "category" or "class." | |||
Tagalog (Filipino) | pag-uri-uriin | ||
Uri (root word of pag-uri-uriin) is also used to mean "to think deeply" in some contexts. |
Aymara | may maya | ||
Guarani | mohenda | ||
Esperanto | ordigi | ||
The Esperanto word "ordigi" also means "to put in order", "to arrange", or "to classify". | |||
Latin | generis | ||
The Latin word "generis" is etymologically related to the Greek word "genos," meaning "race," "origin," or "kind". |
Greek | είδος | ||
The word "είδος" in Greek also means "idea" or "form", and is related to the English word "idea". | |||
Hmong | ua tej yam | ||
The word "ua tej yam" also means "to divide" or "to separate" in Hmong. | |||
Kurdish | jiberhevxistin | ||
The word jiberhevxistin has a second meaning as 'to sort'. | |||
Turkish | çeşit | ||
Possibly originating from the Persian word 'jisn', meaning 'type' or 'kind'. | |||
Xhosa | uhlobo | ||
The word "uhlobo" can also mean "species" or "kind" in Xhosa. | |||
Yiddish | סאָרטירן | ||
"סאָרטירן" comes from the French word "assortir", meaning "to match" or "to combine". | |||
Zulu | hlunga | ||
The word "hlunga" in Zulu also means "to winnow", which involves separating the chaff from the grain. | |||
Assamese | সজোৱা | ||
Aymara | may maya | ||
Bhojpuri | क्रम में सजावल | ||
Dhivehi | ހަމައަކަށް އެޅުވުން | ||
Dogri | तालना | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) | uri | ||
Guarani | mohenda | ||
Ilocano | nadumaduma | ||
Krio | kayn | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) | جۆر | ||
Maithili | प्रकार | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯈꯟꯗꯣꯛꯄ | ||
Mizo | thliar | ||
Oromo | secca'uu | ||
Odia (Oriya) | ସର୍ଟ କରନ୍ତୁ | | ||
Quechua | ñiqinchay | ||
Sanskrit | प्रकारं | ||
Tatar | сорт | ||
Tigrinya | ምስራዕ | ||
Tsonga | hlela | ||