Assortment
/əˈsɔːtmənt/
nounBeginner📊CommonCollection
1 meaning1 question
Definitions
1
A variety of different things.
/əˈsɔːtmənt/
nounneutralBeginner
Collection
A collection of various things.
There was a delightful assortment of pastries on display.
💡 Simply: Many different things together.
More Examples
2
The shop boasted a huge assortment of colorful fabrics.
How It's Used
Retail
"The store offered a wide assortment of chocolates."
Grocery
"The supermarket had a large assortment of fresh produce."
From Middle French assortiment, from assortir "to match, sort," from a- + sortir "to go out, come out." The sense of 'a variety of things' developed over time.
Historically, the word emphasized the careful selection and matching of items, before evolving to its current broader sense of variety.
Memory tip
Think 'assorted' items, all gathered together.
Word Origin
Original meaning
"to match, sort"
wide assortmentlarge assortmentdiverse assortmentodd assortment
Common misspellings
assormentasortmentasortmant
Practice
Usage
20%Spoken
80%Written