What does "alphabetize" mean?

To arrange words or items in order of the first (and then subsequent) letters as they occur in the alphabet.

What is a synonym for "alphabetize"?

Common synonyms include: alphabet, alphabetise, analyze, arrange, assort, break down.

verb

verb ·4 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Verb

1
To arrange words or items in order of the first (and then subsequent) letters as they occur in the alphabet. Canada, US, transitive
"It was almost impossible to locate specific books in the library until we had alphabetized them by the authors' surnames."
2
arrange in alphabetical order wordnet
3
provide with an alphabet wordnet

"Can you alphabetize these quickly?"

From alphabet(ical) + -ize.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.