DictionaryAI

organize

verb
OR-guh-nyz/ˈɔɹɡənaɪz/UKAW-guh-nyz/ˈɔːɡənaɪz/

Formsorganizes, organizing, organized

UK spellingorganise

5 meanings of organize

Practice

  1. 1
    put in orderverbtransitive
    To arrange something so that it is in working order.

    He organized the garage over the weekend, sorting tools onto labeled shelves.

    New employees learn to organize their workflow during the first week on the job.

    Similararrange, marshal

    Oppositedisorganize

  2. 2
    give structureverbtransitive
    To form into a whole made of parts, each having a special function, office, or relation; to systematize.

    The founders organized the company into divisions, each responsible for a distinct product line.

    Modern governments organize public administration into specialized ministries and agencies.

    Similarstructure, systematize, arrange

    Note

    The sense of institutions and systems, where every part has its own job. William Cranch's report of Marbury v. Madison (1803) speaks of a supreme will that "organizes the government." The same verb now covers putting on events: Susan Dominus, in The New York Times (2008), writes of an artist who organizes life-drawing evenings. Where the plain "arrange" meaning tidies, this one builds a structure.

  3. 3
    form a unionverbtransitive or intransitive
    To band together into a union or similar group in order to bargain and act collectively; to unionize.

    Union representatives worked for months to organize the warehouse staff before the vote.

    Graduate students at several universities organized in response to stagnant stipends.

    Similarunionize

    Note

    Labor's own use of the verb, and the one where it can stand alone. When workers decide to organize, no object is needed to mean forming a union. With an object, the subject shifts to whoever does the recruiting: an organizer sets out to organize the workers at a steel mill. Unionize is the close synonym, but organize also covers groups that act collectively without a formal union.

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    verb
    To equip something with the body parts or biological structure that enable it to live.
  2. 5
    verb
    To sing a piece of music in parts, with separate voices taking different melodic lines.

Practice

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Origin

The word comes from Middle English 'organizen' (also 'organysen'), partly from Middle French 'organiser' and partly from Medieval Latin 'organizō', which goes back to Latin 'organum' meaning 'organ'. It can be seen as 'organ' plus the suffix '-ize'.