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Are you referring to a dictionary of word definitions? The kind that is structured as a list of words, ordered lexicographically? Where is the categorization in
by alanbernstein 8y ago
Are you referring to a dictionary of word definitions? The kind that is structured as a list of words, ordered lexicographically? Where is the categorization in that?
- mort96 8y agoWhat do you mean? I agree that dictionaries are ordered and not categorized, but do dictionaries claim to be sorted?
- alanbernstein 8y agoI thought parent was using "the sortedness of dictionaries" as his argument, I now realize he meant "the dictionary definition of 'sort'".
- outsidetheparty 8y agoHe's referring to the dictionary definition of the word "sort". Dictionary.com has it as "to arrange according to sort, kind, or class; separate into sorts; classify". I looked it up in the OED too -- mostly because we have one and I don't get enough excuses to use its nifty little magnifying glass -- and it also supports the notion that it means by category, not by order. The general verb definition is "to arrange things according to kind or quality", and there's a separate definition for software: "sort: Computers: the action of arranging items of data in a prescribed sequence".