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alphabetizer

alphabetizer

1 6.6
A person who puts names or titles in alphabetical order
  • noun
  • /ˈælfəˌbɛtaɪzər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : alfabetizador
  • She worked as an alphabetizer for a large database of client names.

Examples

  • The librarian acted as the alphabetizer, ensuring all the books were in order.

  • An alphabetizer can help organize your files.

  • Every contest entry was checked by an alphabetizer before the results were announced.

  • She is a skilled alphabetizer for the library.

  • As an alphabetizer, she spent hours organizing the library's books by author.

  • The alphabetizer helped the teacher sort the students' names for the attendance list.

  • In her role as an alphabetizer, he was responsible for arranging the files in the office alphabetically.

Surface Forms

alphabetizer singular
alphabetizers plural

Morphology

alphabetizer = alphabetize (transparent) = alphabet + ize + er

The agentive suffix '-er' is added to the verb 'alphabetize' to form a person or tool that performs the action, a regular and transparent derivation.

Etymology

Alphabetizer comes from alphabet, which itself comes from the names alpha and beta and means the set of 'letters' in order. The ending -er means 'one who', as in 'printer' or 'player'. So an alphabetizer is a person who puts items into 'alphabetical' order.