cross-classification vs sorting

cross-classification and sorting both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
cross-classification	Yes	No	No	No
sorting	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, sorting is a hypernym of cross-classification; that is, sorting is a word with a broader meaning than cross-classification:

cross-classification: classification according to more than one attribute at the same time
sorting: the basic cognitive process of arranging into classes or categories

Other hypernyms of cross-classification include categorisation, categorization, classification.

cross-classification (noun)	sorting (noun)
classification according to more than one attribute at the same time	grouping by class or kind or size
	the basic cognitive process of arranging into classes or categories
	an operation that segregates items into groups according to a specified criterion