organise
Formsorganises, organising, organised
US spellingorganize · also used in the UK
- 1To plan an event, or arrange for something you need, and get everything ready.
Can you help me organise a party for Mum's birthday?
Can you organise a taxi to take us to the airport?
UsageYou organise a party or a trip. You can also organise for someone to do something, like meet you.
Similararrange, plan, run, coordinate, stage
- 2To put things into a sensible order so that they work well.
I need to organise my desk before I can start work.
She organised her books by colour on the new shelves.
UsageYou organise things into groups or by something, like by colour. To get organised is to put your own things in order.
- 3To build a group or system out of parts that each have their own job.
Our coach likes to organise the players so that everyone has a clear job.
The hospital is organised into wards, each caring for a different kind of patient.
UsageUse into to name the parts: the hospital is organised into wards.
Note
- 4To come together as a union, or bring workers together in one, so they can act as a group.
The cleaners at the hotel decided to organise and ask for fair pay.
Union leaders organised the town's delivery drivers last year.
UsageWorkers can just organise, or a union can organise them. Unionise means almost the same.
Less common meanings
- 5To give something the organs and body parts it needs to live.
UsageUsually as organised: a highly organised animal has a complex body, not a tidy mind.
Note
- 6In music, to sing a piece in parts, with different voices singing different notes.
Formerly , those Catholic priests who sung in parts : so to sing , was to organize
1828, Thomas Busby, A Complete Dictionary of Music
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English organizen, partly from Middle French organiser and partly from Medieval Latin organizo, from Latin organum ('organ').