Meaning

noun a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality

verb examine in order to test suitability

noun an approximate definition or example

originFrom Middle English sort, soort, sorte (cognate Dutch soort, German Sorte, Danish sort, Swedish sort), borrowed from Old French sorte (“class, kind”), from Latin sortem, accusative form of sors (“lot, fate, share, rank, category”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0