Class
Pronunciation
Origin
From French classe, from Latin classis ("a class or division of the people, assembly of people, the whole body of citizens called to arms, the army, the fleet, later a class or division in general")
Noun
class
(countable and uncountable; plural classs)- (countable) A group, collection, category or set sharing characteristics or attributes.
- 2011, October 1, Saj Chowdhury, Wolverhampton 1-2 Newcastle, The Magpies are unbeaten and enjoying their best run since 1994, although few would have thought the class of 2011 would come close to emulating their ancestors.
- The new Ford Fiesta is set to be best in the 'small family' class.That is one class-A heifer you got there, sonny.Often used to imply membership of a large class.This word has a whole class of metaphoric extensions.
- (countable) A social grouping, based on job, wealth, etc. In Britain, society is commonly split into three main classes; upper class, middle class and working class.
- 2013-06-28, Joris Luyendijk, Our banks are out of control, Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic …. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. … But the scandals kept coming, and so we entered stage three – what therapists call "bargaining". A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.
- (uncountable) The division of society into classes.Jane Austen's works deal with class in 18th-century England.
- (uncountable) Admirable behavior; elegance.Apologizing for losing your temper, even though you were badly provoked, showed real class.
- (countable and uncountable) A group of students in a regularly scheduled meeting with a teacher.The class was noisy, but the teacher was able to get their attention with a story.
- A series of classes covering a single subject.I took the cooking class for enjoyment, but I also learned a lot.
- (countable) A group of students who commenced or completed their education during a particular year. A school class.The class of 1982 was particularly noteworthy.
- (countable) A category of seats in an airplane, train or other means of mass transportation.I used to fly business class, but now my company can only afford economy.
- (biology, taxonomy, countable) A rank in the classification of organisms, below phylum and above order; a taxon of that rank.Magnolias belong to the class Magnoliopsida.
- Best of its kind.
- 1913, Jun 27, The Crime Is Not in Making a Mistake, but in Repeating It., The mark made by Cory a new Central A. U. mark and he appears to be the class of the field in this event.
- 1929, Oct 27, 89,000 Watch So. California Defeat Stanford, 7 to 0, University of Southern California's 7 to 0 defeat of the mighty Cardinal team ranked the victors the class of the far west
- 2009, May 8, Waianae forces OIA rematch, Roosevelt (14-1) looked very much like the class of the OIA.
- It is the class of Italian bottled waters.
- (mathematics) A collection of sets definable by a shared property.The class of all sets is not a set.
- (military) A group of people subject to be conscripted in the same military draft, or more narrowly those persons actually conscripted in a particular draft.
- (programming, object-oriented) A set of objects having the same behavior (but typically differing in state), or a template defining such a set.
- One of the sections into which a Methodist church or congregation is divided, supervised by a class leader.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Full definition of class
Verb
- (transitive) To assign to a class; to classify.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 2, She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, …; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid, …—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.
- I would class this with most of the other mediocre works of the period.
- (intransitive) To be grouped or classed.The genus or family under which it classes.— Tatham.
- (transitive) To divide into classes, as students; to form into, or place in, a class or classes.