▪ I. sorting, vbl. n.
(ˈsɔːtɪŋ)
Also 4–5 sortyng, 5 Sc. -en, 6 soorting.
[f. sort v.1 + -ing1.]
1. The action of the vb., in various senses; arrangement, classification.
| c 1358 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 561 Will'o Randman pro pylyng et sortyng lane. 1485 Act 1 Hen. VII, c. 10 §7 The same Wolle shuld be..clene wounde, withoute any sortyng, barbyng or clakkyng. 1494 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 248 Giffyne for sorten of the tymmyr in the ȝard, iij s. iij d. 1554 Act 1 Mary c. 7 §1 The..principall grounde of Clothmaking ys the true sorting of Wolles. 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. v. iv, It is the sorting, and the dividing,..and the decocting, that makes the fumigation. 1625 Markham Souldier's Accid. 1 For the Sorting of Armes, it is a good proportion to haue a Companie equally compounded of Armed men and Shot. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. iii. iii. (1695) 230 The Essences of the sorts of Things, and consequently the sorting of Things, is the Workmanship of the Understanding. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 10 ¶6 The sorting of a Suit of Ribbons. 1765 Phil. Trans. LV. 205 In sorting, the skain to be examined is put upon the hook. 1856 De Quincey in ‘H. A. Page’ Life (1877) II. xvii. 51 The separation and sorting of such innumerable papers. 1892 Athenæum 23 Apr. 530/1 We have..a little too much mere sorting of the varied intellectual material. |
2. a. With
a and
pl. An instance of this.
| 1611 Cotgr., Assortissement,..a sorting, or suiting of things together. 1764 Museum Rust. II. 38, I divide my fruit into three several sorts..; from these three sortings I have..six several kinds of cyder. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 812 The substances..undergo another sorting, with greater or less care. 1871 Carlyle in Mrs. C.'s Lett. (1883) II. 362 He did for me all manner of..summaries, copyings, sortings. |
b. Sc. An assortment, supply, stock.
| a 1779 D. Graham Leper the Taylor i. Writ. 1883 II. 116 Poor Sandy went home with a skinful of terror, and a sorting of sore bones. |
3. With
advs., as
out,
up.
| 1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 76 Then came a sorting out of the juniors from the seniors. 1890 Daily News 16 Dec. 6/4 The higher prices..have caused a little more sorting up. |
4. a. attrib., as
sorting-action;
sorting-boom,
† -cloth (see
quots.);
sorting code Banking, a code number which identifies a branch office in the banking system, and is used to facilitate the processing of cheques and credit transfers;
† sorting-kersey,
-machine (see
quots.).
Also, in modern use, with
advs., as
sorting-out influence,
operation,
process;
sorting-up business,
order,
trade, etc.
| 1897 Geogr. Jrnl. IX. 278 One of the most remarkable phenomena attending the distribution of earthy materials by wind (or water) is the *sorting action exercised by the fluid. |
| 1877 Lumberman's Gaz. 8 Dec. 362 There is a system of ‘*sorting booms’ by which the logs, each bearing a distinguishing mark, are distributed to their several ownerships. |
| 1593 3rd Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. 7/1 Woollen cloths..called vesses,..park cloths, or *sorting cloths made in Somersetshire. 1674 S. Jeake Arith. (1696) 68 One Sack of Wooll..is accompted to make 4. Standard Clothes of clean Wooll called sorting Clothes. 1847 Halliw., Sorting-cloths, a kind of short cloths, with a blue selvage on both sides of the lists, made in the Eastern counties. |
| 1959 D. S. Travers in Electronics in Banking (Institute of Bankers) 50 The cheque of the future... The code appears in five blocks... Block 2—Bank and branch *sorting code. 1965 Perry & Ryder Thomson's Dict. Banking (ed. 11) 524/2 Sorting code numbers, a system devised to assist customers of banks who make considerable use of the Credit Transfer system... The number is placed in the box provided on the credit by the customer before passing the credit to the bank. It consists of three groups of two figures each, eg. 20-03-92, the first digits denoting the bank, and the remainder identifying the branch. |
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), *Sorting-Kersies, a sort of Cloth so call'd. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2246/2 *Sorting-machine..for gaging leather strips as they are cut from the hide to certain regulated sizes. |
| 1977 Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics 1976 XXI. ii. 149 In (44) the criterion of the *sorting-out operation is P1. |
| 1960 E. H. Gombrich Art & Illusion ii. iv. 144 Classical art also underwent an evolution, a *sorting-out process after its heroic period. |
b. In the sense ‘in, at, or on which sorting is done’, as
sorting-board,
sorting house,
sorting office,
sorting siding,
sorting table, etc.; with
adv., as
sorting-out centre.
| 1766 Entick London IV. 191 In which is one of the sorting houses, under the comptrolment of the general penny-post. 1851 J. Milne Autobiog. iv. 109 Aberdeen has become what is termed a sorting office. 1881 A. Bathgate Waitaruna xii. 172 The ‘pickers-up’ were busy gathering the fleeces..and carrying them to the sorting table. 1885 Bowman Struct. Wool Fibre 358 Sorting-board, the table on which wool is sorted. 1899 Daily News 4 Mar. 3/2 At Woodford there are extensive sorting sidings. |
| 1952 S. Spender Learning Laughter vii. 97 The reader should be able to visualize them going to the sorting-out centre near Haifa. |
▪ II. ˈsorting, ppl. a. [f. sort v.1 + -ing2.] 1. That corresponds, agrees, or suits (with others of the same class or kind).
| 1535 Wardr. Kath. Arragon 24 in Camden Misc. III, Item, fyve pecis of hanginges of tapistrye soorting. 1547 Harl. MS. 1419 A. lf. 38 Nyne peces sorting.., every of theym lyned with Canvas. |
2. That sorts, arranges, or classifies.
| 1912 Civil Service Year Bk. 61 The..pay of a Sorting Clerk and Telegraphist. |