sorter

noun

"sorter" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sorter” is uncommon English (frequency #67,848 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#67,848
frequency rank, English
54,294
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person employed to sort.

Key facts for sorter
PropertyValue
Headwordsorter
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters6
Frequency rank#67,848
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “sorter” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). sorter lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sorter is uncommon English at frequency #67,848 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for sorter, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From sort + -er. The correct English form is sorter, spelled S-O-R-T-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person employed to sort.
  2. 2
    A machine or algorithm that performs sorting.

Etymology

From sort + -er.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sorter"?
"sorter" is spelled S-O-R-T-E-R.
What does "sorter" mean?
As a noun, "sorter" means: A person employed to sort.
What is the origin of the word "sorter"?
From sort + -er. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “sorter”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-O-R-T-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list