Etymograph

English

assort

Assort comes from Middle French assortir, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ser-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-1root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600assortir1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1790assort1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English assort
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France: “They appear […] no way assorted to those with…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-Wiktionary, English assortroot named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600assortirWiktionary, English assort
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1790assortWiktionary, English assort. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France: “They appear […] no way assorted to those with…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ser-

service, series, serve, hero, stream, conservative, desert, reservoir, insert, sermon, conservatism, heresy, consortium, concierge, exert, assertion, observant, servitude, heretic, sorcery, sorcerer, sark, assertive, consort, servile, conservator, serf, strudel, sere, sortie, 31 more

Today it means

verb To sort or arrange according to characteristic or class.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “assort”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ser- / assort

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