arrange

Meanings

1. To put things in a particular order or position.
2. To plan or organize something so that it can happen.
3. To adapt a piece of music.

Example sentences

• "She arranged the flowers in a blue vase."

  Level A2, Meaning 1

• "We arranged to meet at the station at noon."

  Level A2, Meaning 2

• "He arranged a surprise party for his sister."

  Level B1, Meaning 2

• "The books are arranged by color."

  Level A2, Meaning 1

Synonyms and antonyms

Look-alikes and common mistakes

• organize : Organize means to plan and put in order. Arrange can also be about physical position.
• order : Order is the way things are placed. Arrange is the action of placing them.

Word family and forms

Forms: arranges, arranged, arranging

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "arrange".

• arrange a meeting
• arrange the flowers
• arrange a trip
• arrange in order
• carefully arranged
• arrange to meet

Origin

Arrange came into English in the 1300s from Middle French arangier, which meant to put in a line or a row. It is built from the prefix a-, meaning to, and the word range, which first meant a line or a row. So to arrange was first to draw up soldiers in lines.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Dictionary.com.

How to remember it

Arrange has range at the end. When you arrange things, you put them in a range, a neat line.

Test yourself

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