Etymology

alphabetize

A1L1P3H4A1B3E1T1I1Z10E1

Today it means: To arrange words or items in order of the first (and then subsequent) letters as they occur in the alphabet. Full definition →

English alphabet(ical) ← Middle English alphabete ← Classical Latin alphabētum
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Semitic*ʔalp-
  2. Phoenician𐤀𐤋𐤐 (ʾlp)
  3. Ancient Greekἄλφα (álpha)
  4. Proto-Semitic*bayt-
  5. Phoenician𐤁𐤕 (bt)
  6. Ancient Greekβῆτᾰ (bêtă)
  7. Ancient Greekἀλφάβητος (alphábētos)
  8. Medieval Greekἀλφάβητον (alphábēton)
  9. Classical Latinalphabētum
  10. Middle Englishalphabete
  11. Englishalphabet(ical)
  12. English todayalphabetize

From alphabet(ical) + -ize.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.