Understanding Dictionary Order for Word Arrangement

To arrange words in the correct dictionary order, we compare them letter by letter from left to right. The word with the letter that comes earlier in the alphabet at the first point of difference is placed earlier in the order.

Let's list the given words with their corresponding numbers:

• 1. Disaster
• 2. Disappointment
• 3. Discharge
• 4. Disappear
• 5. Disadvantage
• 6. Disarticulate

All the words begin with the common prefix "Dis". We need to look at the fourth letter of each word to determine the initial order.

Comparing the 4th letters ('a' and 'c'), 'a' comes before 'c' in the alphabet. This means words with 'a' as the 4th letter will come before word 3 (Discharge).

The words starting with "Disa" are: Disaster (1), Disappointment (2), Disappear (4), Disadvantage (5), Disarticulate (6).

Now, let's compare these words by their 5th letter:

Comparing the 5th letters ('s', 'p', 'p', 'd', 'r'), the alphabetical order is 'd', 'p', 'r', 's'.

• 'd' comes first: Disadvantage (5).
• Next is 'p'. There are two words: Disappointment (2) and Disappear (4). We need to compare further.
• Next is 'r': Disarticulate (6).
• Last is 's': Disaster (1).

Let's compare Disappointment (2) and Disappear (4) by their 6th letter:

The 6th letters are the same ('p'). We compare the 7th letter:

Comparing the 7th letters ('o' and 'e'), 'e' comes before 'o'. So, Disappear (4) comes before Disappointment (2).

Putting it all together based on the comparison:

1. Disadvantage (5) - 4th letter 'a', 5th letter 'd'
2. Disappear (4) - 4th letter 'a', 5th letter 'p', 7th letter 'e'
3. Disappointment (2) - 4th letter 'a', 5th letter 'p', 7th letter 'o'
4. Disarticulate (6) - 4th letter 'a', 5th letter 'r'
5. Disaster (1) - 4th letter 'a', 5th letter 's'
6. Discharge (3) - 4th letter 'c'

The correct dictionary order of the word numbers is 5, 4, 2, 6, 1, 3.

Revision Table: Checking Dictionary Order

Additional Information on Alphabetical Sorting

Alphabetical sorting is the process of arranging words or text strings in the order of the letters of the alphabet. This is the fundamental principle behind how dictionaries and encyclopedias are organized.

• Comparison starts with the first letter. If letters are the same, move to the second letter, and so on.
• If one word is a prefix of another (e.g., "apple" and "apple pie"), the shorter word (apple) comes first.
• Case sensitivity can affect sorting (lowercase 'a' might be treated differently from uppercase 'A' depending on the sorting rules, though in standard dictionary order, case is ignored after the initial letter if needed, but here all words start with uppercase 'D').
• Spaces and punctuation marks also have a defined order, but they are not relevant in this specific question involving only standard words.