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OP Put a mark on the wall! I noticed something interesting about this week's theme. It occurred to me that the current definition of assorted is self-contradictory.
To sort means to separate a group into smaller groups
according to some characteristic - size, color, weight, value,etc.
Look at Webster 1913:
Webster's 1913 Dictionary
Definition: \As*sort"ed\ ([a^]s*s[^o]rt"[e^]d), a.
Selected; culled.
assort
SYLLABICATION: as·sort
PRONUNCIATION: -sôrt
VERB: Inflected forms: as·sort·ed, as·sort·ing, as·sorts
TRANSITIVE VERB: 1. To separate into groups according to kind; classify. 2. To supply with (an appropriate variety or assortment, as of goods).
INTRANSITIVE VERB: 1. To agree in kind; fall into the same class. 2. To associate with others; keep company.
ETYMOLOGY: Middle English assorte, from Old French assorter : a-, to (from Latin ad-; see ad–) + sorte, kind (from Latin sors, sort-, chance, lot; see ser-2 in Appendix I).
OTHER FORMS: as·sorta·tive (-sôrt-tv) —ADJECTIVE
as·sorter —NOUN
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted assorted wwh 01/28/04 01:59 PM
Moderated by Jackie
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