Assortment

/əˈsɔːrtmənt/ noun

Definition

A collection of different types or varieties of things grouped together.

Etymology

From 'assort' (Old French 'assorter,' combining 'a-' and 'sort' meaning to arrange by kind), with '-ment' (suffix meaning result or action). The word originally referred to the merchant practice of grouping goods by type.

Kelly Says

The word assortment comes from merchants dividing goods into piles—the same root 'sort' gives us 'sorting algorithms' that computers use today, so 400-year-old merchant organization birthed modern computer science!

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