Organization Definition & Meaning

American

British

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms organization American [awr-guh-nuh-zey-shuhn] / ˌɔr gə nəˈzeɪ ʃən / especially British, organisation

noun

1. the act or process of organizing.

2. the state or manner of being organized. organized.

3. something that is organized.

4. organic structure; composition.

   The organization of this painting is quite remarkable.

5. a group of persons organized for some end or work; association.

   a nonprofit organization.

6. the administrative personnel or apparatus of a business.

7. the functionaries of a political party along with the offices, committees, etc., that they fill.

8. an organism.

adjective

1. of or relating to an organization.

2. Informal. conforming entirely to the standards, rules, or demands of an organization, especially that of one's employer.

   an organization mentality.

organization British / ˌɔːɡənaɪˈzeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of organizing or the state of being organized

2. an organized structure or whole

3. a business or administrative concern united and constructed for a particular end

4. a body of administrative officials, as of a political party, a government department, etc

5. order or system; method

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

• antiorganization noun
• misorganization noun
• nonorganization noun
• organizational adjective
• organizationally adverb
• preorganization noun
• suborganization noun
• superorganization noun
• underorganization noun

Etymology

Origin of organization

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English organizacion, from Medieval Latin organizātiōn-, stem of organizātiō, equivalent to organizāt(us) “arranged” (past participle of organizāre “to contrive, arrange”; organize ) + -iō -ion

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"In the case of birds, it was hunters, bird watchers, nonprofit organizations and many other constituencies who banded together to reach a common goal."

From Science Daily

Despite punishing attacks on internal security organizations, including bases and command centers of the Revolutionary Guard and the plainclothes Basij militias, there has been no indication of serious defections or division.

From The Wall Street Journal

Amy Fairweather, policy director at the veterans’ support organization Swords to Plowshares, told Salon the initiative is “counterproductive,” warning that homeless veterans’ perception of the VA would suffer.

From Salon

An explosion of agents means that organizations will now have to secure agent identities in addition to human identities, he said.

From MarketWatch

The researchers focused on examining the organization and composition of gene groups at a very small scale.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• association
• body
• business
• circle
• club
• company
• consortium
• cooperative
• corporation
• establishment
• federation
• industry
• institute
• institution
• league
• party
• society
• team
• union

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.