stratify

[ strat-uh-fahy ]

verb (used with object)

, strat·i·fied, strat·i·fy·ing.

1. to form or place in strata or layers.
2. to preserve or germinate (seeds) by placing them between layers of earth.
3. Sociology. to arrange in a hierarchical order, especially according to graded status levels.

verb (used without object)

, strat·i·fied, strat·i·fy·ing.

1. to form strata.
2. Geology. to lie in beds or layers.
3. Sociology. to develop hierarchically, especially as graded status levels.

stratify

/ ˈstrætɪˌfaɪ /

verb

1. to form or be formed in layers or strata
2. tr to preserve or render fertile (seeds) by storing between layers of sand or earth
3. sociol to divide (a society) into horizontal status groups or (of a society) to develop such groups

Derived Forms

• ˈstratiˌfied, adjective

Other Words From

• de-strati·fy verb (used with object) destratified destratifying
• multi·strati·fied adjective
• non·strati·fied adjective
• semi·strati·fied adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of stratify¹

1655–65; modeled on New Latin strātificāre, equivalent to strāti- strati- + -ficāre -fy

Word History and Origins

Origin of stratify¹

C17: from French stratifier, from New Latin stratificāre, from Latin stratum

Example Sentences

The researchers envision a future when the germline genome is used to further stratify the 11 breast cancer subtypes identified by Curtis to guide treatment decisions and improve prognoses and monitoring for recurrence.

From Science Daily

Muscle T2 mapping could be used to stratify patients with primary headaches and to track potential treatment effects for monitoring.

From Science Daily

"We used the cutting edge of single-cell multimodal technology to develop this reproducible classification schema. It's a big step toward precision medicine for rheumatologic diseases. With the robust computational AI methods, we are able to make sense of integrating large single-cell omics, imaging, and clinical data to stratify patient heterogeneity in a generalized manner."

From Science Daily

But selling verification and higher visibility would "stratify" Twitter.

From BBC

The heating of the sea surface also causes the ocean to stratify into distinct layers, making it harder for warmer, oxygenated waters above to mix with the cooler depths.

From Washington Post