The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Sort \Sort\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sorted; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Sorting.]
   1. To separate, and place in distinct classes or divisions,
      as things having different qualities; as, to sort cloths
      according to their colors; to sort wool or thread
      according to its fineness.
      [1913 Webster]

            Rays which differ in refrangibility may be parted
            and sorted from one another.          --Sir I.
                                                  Newton.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To reduce to order from a confused state. --Hooker.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To conjoin; to put together in distribution; to class.
      [1913 Webster]

            Shellfish have been, by some of the ancients,
            compared and sorted with insects.     --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]

            She sorts things present with things past. --Sir J.
                                                  Davies.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To choose from a number; to select; to cull.
      [1913 Webster]

            That he may sort out a worthy spouse. --Chapman.
      [1913 Webster]

            I'll sort some other time to visit you. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. To conform; to adapt; to accommodate. [R.]
      [1913 Webster]

            I pray thee, sort thy heart to patience. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

sorting
    n 1: an operation that segregates items into groups according to
         a specified criterion; "the bottleneck in mail delivery is
         the process of sorting" [syn: sort, sorting]
    2: the basic cognitive process of arranging into classes or
       categories [syn: classification, categorization,
       categorisation, sorting]
    3: grouping by class or kind or size

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

53 Moby Thesaurus words for "sorting":
   EDP, analysis, analyzing, appraisal, arrangement, assessment,
   assortment, cataloging, categorization, classification,
   classifying, codification, collating, computer technology,
   computer typesetting, computing, culling, data processing,
   data retrieval, division, electronic data processing, evaluation,
   factoring, filing, gauging, gradation, grading, grouping,
   high-speed data handling, identification, indexing,
   machine computation, pigeonholing, placement, ranging, ranking,
   rating, reporting, scanning, screening, selection, sifting,
   sifting out, sorting out, stratification, subdivision,
   subordination, tabulation, taxonomy, triage, typology, weighing,
   winnowing



The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

sort
sorting

   1.  To arrange a collection of items
   in some specified order.  The items - records in a file or
   data structures in memory - consist of one or more fields or
   members.  One of these fields is designated as the "sort key"
   which means the records will be ordered according to the value
   of that field.  Sometimes a sequence of key fields is
   specified such that if all earlier keys are equal then the
   later keys will be compared.  Within each field some ordering
   is imposed, e.g. ascending or descending numerical, lexical
   ordering, or date.

   Sorting is the subject of a great deal of study since it is a
   common operation which can consume a lot of computer time.
   There are many well-known sorting algorithms with different
   time and space behaviour and programming complexity.

   Examples are quicksort, insertion sort, bubble sort,
   heap sort, and tree sort.  These employ many different
   data structures to store sorted data, such as arrays,
   linked lists, and binary trees.

   2.  The Unix utility program for sorting lines of
   files.

   Unix manual page: sort(1).

   (1997-02-12)