sort 
= Syn. 4. Kind, Sort. Kind la by derivation a deeper 
or more serious word than sort ; sort is often used slight- 
ingly, while kind is rarely so used. 
Sort (sort), i'. [< ME. sortcn, soorten, < OF. sor- 
tir, allot, sort, assort (cf. Sp. Pg. sortear, obtain 
by lot), = It. urn-tire, < L. sortiri, cast lots, fix 
by lot, divide, distribute, choose, < tsor(t-)s, lot, 
destiny, share : see sort, n. The E. verb is in 
part an aphetic form of assort.] I. trans. If. 
To give or appoint by lot; hence, in general, 
to allot ; assign. 
And forth he wente, shortly for to telle, 
Ther as Merourie sorted hym to dwelle. 
Chaucer, Trollus, v. 1827. 
Graces not poured out equally, but diversely sorted and 
given. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, v. 78. 
2f. To ordain ; decree. 
All may be well ; but, if God sort It so, 
"1'is more than we deserve, or I expect. 
Shale., Rich. III., 11. 8. 86. 
3t. To select ; choose ; pick out. 
Amphialus with noble gentleness assured him . . . that 
his revenge, whensoever, should sort unto itself a higher 
subject. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, iii. 
Nurse, will you go with me into my closet, 
To help me sort such needful ornaments 
As you think fit to furnish me to-morrow ? 
Shak., R. and J., iv. 2. 84. 
4. To set apart ; assign to a particular place or 
station; rank; class. 
I will not sort you with the rest of my servants. 
Shak., Hamlet, ii. 2. 274. 
I hold fit that these narrations, which have mixture 
with superstition, be sorted by themselves. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, it. 
5. To separate into sorts; arrange according 
to kind ; classify : sometimes with over. 
Those confused seeds, which were impos'd on Psyche 
as an incessant labour to cull out and sort asunder. 
Milton, Areopagitica. 
The accumulation of new material for German and Ital- 
ian history is perplexing in itself ; the Germans and Ital- 
ians have scarcely begun to sort It. 
Stubbs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 61. 
6. To conform ; accommodate ; adapt ; suit. 
I pray thee sort thy heart to p'atience. 
Shak., 1 Hen. VI., ii. 4. 68. 
Now was there ever man BO fortunate, 
To have his love so sorted to his wish ? 
Chapman, Blind Beggar of Alexandria. 
7. To put in the proper state or order; set 
right; adjust; dispose. [Scotch.] 
I have as much a mind as ever I had to my dinner to 
go back and tell him to sort his horse himself, since he is 
as able as I am. Scott, Monastery, xiv. 
8. To supply in suitable sorts; assort. 
He was fitted out by very eminent Merchants of that 
City, on a design only to Trade with the Spaniards or In- 
dians, having a very considerable Cargo well sorted for 
these parts of the World. Dampier, Voyages, I. 187. 
9f . To procure ; obtain ; attain ; reach. 
I'll sort occasion . . . 
To part the queen's proud kindred from the king. 
Shak., Rich. III., ii. 2. 148. 
We shall sort time to take more notice of him. 
Ford, Lover's Melancholy, ii. 1. 
10. To punish ; chastise. [Scotch.] 
May ne'Tr be in my fingers, if I dinna sort ye baith for 
it ! Scott, Monastery, iv. 
II. intrans. It. To cast lots; decide or di- 
vine anything by lot ; hence, in general, to 
practise divination or soothsaying. 
Bringe hethir thy counsel!, and the clerkes that sorted 
of this toure. Merlin (E. E. T. 8.), i. 89. 
2f. To come to pass; chance; happen; turn 
out ; specifically, to have a satisfactory issue ; 
succeed. 
Sort how it will, I shall have gold for all. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., i. 2. 107. 
Never any State was ... so open to receive strangers 
into their Body as were the Romans ; therefore it sorted 
with them accordingly, for they grew to the greatest mon- 
archy. 
Bacon. True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates (ed. 1887). 
3f. To tend; lead; conduce. 
They raise some persons to be as it were companions, 
and almost equals to themselves, which many times sorteth 
to inconvenience. Bacon, Friendship (ed. 1887). 
Their several reasons ... all sorted to this conclusion : 
that strict discipline, both in criminal offences and in 
martial affairs, was more needful in plantations than in a 
settled state. Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 212. 
4. To be of the same sort or class (with an- 
other); be like or comparable; consort; asso- 
ciate; agree; harmonize: with with, rarely to. 
Occurrences of present times may sort better with an- 
cient examples than with those of the latter or immedi- 
ate times. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, i. 
Sometime he runs among a flock of sheep, . . . 
And sometime sorteth with a herd of deer. 
Shak., Venus and Adonis, I. 689. 
5779 
A prince of a melancholy constitution both of body and 
mind ; . . . ami, therefore, accusing sycophants, of all 
men, did best sort to his nature. 
.SVr /'. Sidney, Arcadia, 11. 
5. To be suitable or favorable. 
Why, then it sorts, brave warriors ; let 's away. 
Xhak., 3 Hen. VI., ii. 1. 209. 
Some one, he is assur'd, may now or then, 
If opportunity but sort, prevail. 
Ford, Broken Heart, i. 1. 
sortable (s6r'ta-bl), a. [< OF. sortable, sort- 
able, suitable, < sort, sort: see sort and -able.] 1 . 
Capable of being sorted. 2. Assorted; made- 
up of various sorts. 
The facilities which Glasgow possessed of making up 
sortable cargoes for that market. Scott, Rob Roy, xxvl. 
3. Suitable; appropriate; fitting; meet. 
The nourishing state of learning, sortable to so excel- 
lent a patroness [Queen Elizabeth]. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, i. 
She's a mettle quean. It's a pity his Excellency Is a 
thought eldern. The like o' yoursell . . . wad be mair 
sortable in point of years. Scott, Rob Roy, xxxlv. 
sortably(s6r'ta-bli),a<to. Suitably; fitly. Imp. 
Diet. 
sortal (sdr'tal), a. [< sort + -al.~] Belonging 
or pertaining to a sort or class. [Rare.] 
The essence of each genus or sort comes to be nothing 
but that abstract idea, which the general or sortal . . . 
name stands for. Locke, Human Understanding, III. ill. 15. 
sortancet (sdr'tans), . [< sort + -ance.] Con- 
formity; suitableness; appropriateness. [Rare.] 
Here doth he wish his person, with such powers 
As might hold sortance with his quality. 
SAo*.,2Hen. IV.,iv. 1. 11. 
SOrtation (sdr-ta'shon), . [< sort + -atto.] 
The act or process of sorting. [Rare.] 
The final sortation to which the letters are subjected. 
Eng. Illust. Mag., Feb., 1884, p. 294. (Encyc. Diet.) 
sorteliget, sorteligert, etc. Obsolete forms of 
sortilege, etc. 
sorter! (sor'ter), n. [< sort + -eel.] One who 
separates and arranges: as, a letter-sorter; a 
money-sorter. 
The shepherd, the sorter of the wool, the wool-comber or 
carder, the dyer, . . . must all join their different arts in 
order to compleat even this homely production. 
Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, i. 1. 
sorter 2 (sdr'ter). A spelling of sort o', for sort 
of: see under sort, n., and compare kinder. 
sortes (sor'tez), n. pi. [L., pi. of sor(t-)s, lot, 
share : see sort.] Lots used in a kind of div- 
ination, consisting in the chance selection of 
a passage from an author's writings a prac- 
tice common in ancient times and in the 
middle ages. The method pursued by the ancients 
was generally to write a number of verses of a favorite 
poet on separate slips, put them in an urn, draw out 
one at random, and from its contents infer good or bad 
fortune. This form of divination was known as Sortes 
Homericse, Sortes Virgilianx, etc., according to the name 
of the poet from whose works the lines were chosen. 
Among the Christians of the middle ages the Bible was 
used for a similar purpose ; the book being opened by 
hazard, or a pin stuck between the leaves, the first pas- 
sage catching the eye was accepted as prophetic. Such 
lots were called Sortes Biblical or Sacra?. This use of the 
Bible is still common as a popular superstition. 
sortfullyt (s&rt'ful-i), adv. [< "sortful (< sort + 
-fid) + -lyi'] Suitably ; appropriately. [Rare.] 
Everything 
About your house so sortfvlly disposed. 
Chapman, Gentleman Usher, ill. 
sortie (sdr'te), n. [< P. sortie (= Sp. surtida = 
Pg. sortida = It. sort/to), a going forth, issue, 
sally, < sortir (= OSp. surtir = It. sortire), go 
out, come out, issue, sally, < LL. as if 'surreetire, 
rise or rouse up, < L. surgere, pp. snrrec<s, rise 
up: see surge, source.'] 1. A going forth; a 
sally; specifically, the issuing of a body of troops 
from a besieged place to attack the besiegers ; 
an outrush of a beleaguered garrison. 
Experiencing some rough treatment from a sortie of the 
garrison, he marched ... on Baza. 
Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., L 14. 
2. Same as postlude. 
sortilege (s6r'ti-lej), . [Formerly also sorte- 
lige; < F. sortilege, < ML. sortilegmm, divination 
by lot (cf . L. sortileges, foretelling, prophetic), < 
L. sor(t-)s, a lot, + legere, read.] The act, prac- 
tice, or art of drawing lots ; interpretation, div- 
ination, or decision by lot; hence, loosely, sor- 
cery; magic. 
Being accused of Sortelige or inchantment, At Arnhem 
In Guelderland he [Johannes Rosa] was proscribed. 
Ileywood, Hierarchy of Angels, p. 476. 
A woman Infamous for tortilcget and witcheries. Scott. 
sortileger (sdr'ti-lej-er), . [Formerly also 
sorteliger; < sortilege + -er 1 .] One who uses or 
practises sortilege. [Rare.] 
Now to speak of those Sortdigers, and the effects of 
their Art. Beywood. Hierarchy of Angels, p. 473. 
8088 
sortilegious (sor-ti-lf-'jus). <i. [ 
. I i >r. jHTtaiimin lo. (ir I'lmraotrristic of 
sort ili-go. [Kttro.] 
N..r cr. tii,. v nmdi-tn ,l,<-i,|c horarle questions, or tor- 
tilei/iou* demand). 
Sican, Speculum Mumli, ]>. :<).">. I Latham.) 
sortilegy (sor'ti-lej-i), . [< ML. s'H-tilri/iitui. 
sortilege: sea sorli/<i/i:\ Same-;. 
sorting (sdr'ting;, n. [Verbal n. of aort, i-.j The 
act of separating into sorts __ Dry-sorting, in nun- 
ing, separation without the uie of water, or bysif ling and 
huml-picking. 
SOrting-box (sor'ting-boks). n. A box or ta- 
ble with compartments for receiving different 
grades or kinds of materials, etc. 
SOrtita (sor-te'ta), . [It., < mrtirr, go out: 
see sortie.} In music: (a) The first air sung by 
any one of the principal gingers in an opera; 
an entrance-air. (6) Same zajmstlude. 
sortition (s6r-tish'on), M. [< L. m>riilin(n-) t a 
casting of lots, < sortiri, cast or draw lots, < 
sor(r-)*, a lot : see sort.] The casting of lots; 
determination by lot. Bp. Hall, The Crucifix- 
ion. 
sortment (sdrt'ment), w. [< sort + -meat. Prob. 
in part an aphetic form of assortment.] Same 
as assortment. Imp. Diet. 
S0rus(s6'rus), w,; pi. son (-ri). [NL., < Gr. aupAf, 
aheap.] In hot., a heap or aggregation, (a) One 
of the fruit-dots or clusters of sporangia (spore-cases) on 
the back of the fronds of ferns, also on the mucilaginous 
cord emitted from the sporocarp of Marsilea. etc. They 
are of various forms and variously arranged. In the 
Acrogtwheee the sporangia are spread in a stratum over 
the under surface, or rarely over hot' surfaces, of the 
frond; In the Polypodiex the sort are dorsal, and are 
Pinnules of Various Ferns, showing the Sori. 
a, pinnule of the frond of Aiflcttium artfuiti/0/inm- b, pinnule 
of Ivoedwardia anfrusttfolia ; c, pinnule of Polypodiitm Catt/orni- 
turn; rf, pinnule of AftiantHm peatitttm; c, pinnule of Trirhomants 
radicans. 
borne at or near the ends of the velnlets ; In the ntta- 
rieee they are borne in continuous marginal or intramar- 
glnal furrows ; hi the Pteridea they are marginal or In- 
traraarginal, and covered by the reflexed margin of the 
frond ; in the Blechnese they are dorsal, linear or oblong, 
and parallel to the midrib ; in the AsptenUir they are also 
dorsal, and linear or oblong, but oblique to the midrib; 
and in the Aspidieee they are dorsal, round or roundish. 
and usually on the back of a vein. In most Instances the 
sort are covered with a projecting section of the epider- 
mis, which is called the induxium and forms an important 
character in the systematic arrangement of ferns. See 
feml, paraphysis, sporanffium. etc. See also cuts under 
indvnum, Cystopteris, Sothochlfrna, polypody, and Marsi- 
lea. (o) In lichens, a heap or mass of soredia on the sur- 
face of the thallus. (c) In the Synchitriex, a heap of loo- 
sporangia developed from a zob'spore or swarm-cell. 
SOrwet, . and r. A Middle English form of 
sorrow. 
80rwefu.lt, n. A Middle English variant of sor- 
rowful. 
SOry 1 *, ii- A Middle English form of sorry. 
sory 2 t (so'ri), ii. [= Sp. son = It. sort, vitriol, 
< L. sort/, < Gr. aupv, a Kind of ore, ink-stone.] 
Iron sulphate. 
SO-SO (s6'so),fl. [<soso: see so 1 , adc.] Neither 
very good nor verv bad, but generally inclining 
toward bad; indifferent; middling; passable. 
See so so, under so 1 . 
So So is good, very good, very excellent good ; and yet 
it Is not ; it is but so to. Shalt., As you Like it, v. 1. 29. 
I trembled once beneath her spell 
Whose spelling was extremely so-so. 
F. Locker, Reply to a Letter. 
That illustrious lady, who, after leading but a so-so life, 
had died in the odour of sanctity. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, I. 73. 
BOSS 1 (sos), 11. [Also dial, swss; < ME. souse, 
sos, soos, hounds' meat, a mess of food ; prob. 
< Gael, sos, a coarse mess or mixture; perhaps 
confused in part with sauce (dial, sass), souse: 
see sauce. Cf. sesspool, cesspool. Cf. also soss 2 . 
and sossle, sozzle."] 1. A heterogeneous mix- 
ture ; a mess. 2. A dirty puddle. [Prov. Eng. 
and Scotch in both uses.] 
