English
organize
Organize comes from Medieval Latin organizō ‘to organize’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- ‘to make’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*werǵ-‘to make’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄργανονórganon‘organ, instrument, tool’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEorganum‘organ’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500organizō‘to organize’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600organiser
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500organizen
- Englishearliest quotation 1691organize
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*werǵ-‘to make’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὄργανονórganon‘organ, instrument, tool’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEorganum‘organ’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500organizō‘to organize’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600organiser
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500organizen
- Englishearliest quotation 1691organize
Earliest quotation: 1691, John Ray, London: […] Samuel Smith: “These nobler faculties in the mind of man, […]…”
Equivalent to organ + -ize
Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- ‘to make’
Ancient Greek ὄργανον ‘an instrument, implement, tool, also an organ…’
Latin organum ‘an implement, instrument, tool’
Old French organe
Middle English organe ‘a keyboard instrument that produces sound by…’
English organ
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- ‘to make’
work, energy, wright, boulevard, energetic, wrought, allergy, orgasm, liturgy, metallurgy, bulwark, argon, werk, irk, irksome, wark, erg, 23 more
through Middle French organiser
Today it means
verb To arrange in working order.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- / organize