# sort

> English word · Noun · IPA /soɹt/ · frequency rank #1,098

## Definitions
1. A general type.
2. Manner, way; form of being or acting.
3. Condition above the vulgar; rank.
4. A person evaluated in a certain way.
5. Group, company.
6. A good-looking woman.
7. An act of sorting.
8. An algorithm for sorting a list of items into a particular sequence.
9. A piece of metal type used to print one letter, character, or symbol in a particular size and style.
10. A type.
11. Fate, fortune, destiny.
12. Anything used to determine the answer to a question by chance; lot.
13. A full set of anything, such as a pair of shoes or a suit of clothes.

## Etymology
From Middle English sort, soort, sorte (cognate Dutch soort, German Sorte, Danish sort, Swedish sort), borrowed from Old French sorte (“class, kind”), from Latin sortem, accusative form of sors (“lot, fate, share, rank, category”).

## Easily confused with
- **sox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-sox)
- **soy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-soy)
- **sow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-sow)
- **SOS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-sos)
- **STR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-str)
- **sou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-sou)
- **SPR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-spr)
- **sot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-sot)
- **SST** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-sst)
- **sov** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-sov)
- **sry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-sry)
- **sure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-sure)
- **spot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-spot)
- **soul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-soul)
- **suit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-suit)
- **soup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-soup)
- **stat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-stat)
- **sour** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-sour)
- **surf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-surf)
- **spit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sort-vs-spit)

## Common misspellings (6)
`osrt`, `sorrt`, `sortt`, `sotr`, `srot`, `ssort`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sort