classifier

[ klas-uh-fahy-er ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a person or thing that classifies.
a device for separating solids of different characteristics by controlled rates of settling.
Grammar. (in Chinese, Japanese, and other languages) a word or morpheme that corresponds to a semantic class of nouns and regularly accompanies any noun of that class in certain syntactic constructions, such as those of numeration.

First recorded in 1810–20; classify + -er ¹

And in fact all classification supposes the active intervention of the classifier.

It is necessary, therefore, to leave to the judgment of the classifier the propriety of cross-referencing unclaimed disclosures.

But it may not be so obvious that he must also have been a classifier of his observations—an organizer of knowledge.

If man had not been his own classifier, he would never have thought of founding a separate order for his own reception.

So great is the dexterity of this classifier, that a glance will tell him the quality of the staple.

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