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Webster 1913 Edition

Class

Class

(klȧs)
,
Noun.
[F.
classe
, fr. L.
classis
class, collection, fleet; akin to Gr.
κλῆσισ
a calling,
καλεῖν
to call, E.
claim
,
haul
.]
1.
A group of individuals ranked together as possessing common characteristics;
as, the different
classes
of society; the educated
class
; the lower
classes
.
2.
A number of students in a school or college, of the same standing, or pursuing the same studies.
3.
A comprehensive division of animate or inanimate objects, grouped together on account of their common characteristics, in any classification in natural science, and subdivided into orders, families, tribes, genera, etc.
4.
A set; a kind or description, species or variety.
She had lost one
class
energies.
Macaulay.
5.
(Methodist Church)
One of the sections into which a church or congregation is divided, and which is under the supervision of a class leader.
Class of a curve
(Math.)
,
the kind of a curve as expressed by the number of tangents that can be drawn from any point to the curve. A circle is of the second class.
–
Class meeting
(Methodist Church)
,
a meeting of a class under the charge of a class leader, for counsel and relegious instruction.

Class

(klȧs)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Classed
(klȧst)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Classing
.]
[Cf. F.
classer
. See
Class
,
Noun.
]
1.
To arrange in classes; to classify or refer to some class;
as, to
class
words or passages
.
☞ In scientific arrangement, to classify is used instead of to class.
Dana.
2.
To divide into classes, as students; to form into, or place in, a class or classes.

Class

,
Verb.
I.
To be grouped or classed.
The genus or family under which it
classes
.
Tatham.

Webster 1828 Edition

Class

CLASS

, n.
1.
An order or rank of persons; a number of persons in society, supposed to have some resemblance or equality, in rank, education, property, talents, and the like; as in the phrase, all classes of men in society.
The readers of poetry may be distinguished into three classes, according to their capacity of judging.
2.
A number of students in a college or school, of the same standing, or pursuing the same studies. In colleges, the students entering or becoming members the same year, and pursuing the same studies. In academies and schools, the pupils who learn the same lesson, and recite together. In some cases, students of different standings, pursuing the same studies and reciting together, or attending the same professor, or the same course of lectures.
3.
Scientific division or arrangement; a set of beings or things, having something in common, or ranged under a common denomination. Hence in zoology, animals are divided into classes; as quadrupeds, fowls, fishes, &c. So in botany, plants are arranged in classes. Classes are natural or artificial; natural, when founded on natural relations, or resemblances; artificial, when formed arbitrarily, for want of a complete knowledge of natural relations.

CLASS

, v.t.
1.
To arrange in a class or classes; to arrange in sets, or ranks, according to some method founded on natural distinctions; to place together, or in one division, men or things which have or are supposed to have something in common.
2.
To place in ranks or divisions students that are pursuing the same studies; to form into a class or classes.

Definition 2024

class

class

English

Noun

(5) a school class.

class ‎(countable and uncountable, plural classes)

  1. (countable) A group, collection, category or set sharing characteristics or attributes.
    • 2011 October 1, Saj Chowdhury, “Wolverhampton 1-2 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport:
      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.‎
  2. (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 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:
      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.
  3. (uncountable) The division of society into classes.
    Jane Austen's works deal with class in 18th-century England.‎
  4. (uncountable) Admirable behavior; elegance.
    Apologizing for losing your temper, even though you were badly provoked, showed real class.‎
  5. (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.‎
  6. A series of classes covering a single subject.
    I took the cooking class for enjoyment, but I also learned a lot.‎
  7. (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.‎
  8. (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.‎
  9. (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.‎
  10. Best of its kind.
    • 1913 June 27, “The Crime Is Not in Making a Mistake, but in Repeating It.”, in Chicago Tribune:
      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 October 27, “89,000 Watch So. California Defeat Stanford, 7 to 0”, in Chicago Tribune:
      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”, in Honolulu Star-Bulletin:
      Roosevelt (14-1) looked very much like the class of the OIA.
    It is the class of Italian bottled waters.‎
  11. (mathematics) A collection of sets definable by a shared property.
    The class of all sets is not a set.‎
  12. (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.
  13. (object-oriented programming) A set of objects having the same behavior (but typically differing in state), or a template defining such a set.
  14. One of the sections into which a Methodist church or congregation is divided, supervised by a class leader.

Synonyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:class

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

class ‎(third-person singular simple present classes, present participle classing, simple past and past participle classed)

  1. (transitive) To assign to a class; to classify.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 2, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      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.‎
  2. (intransitive) To be grouped or classed.
    The genus or family under which it classes.‎ — Tatham.
  3. (transitive) To divide into classes, as students; to form into, or place in, a class or classes.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

class ‎(not comparable)

  1. (Ireland, Britain, slang) great; fabulous

Related terms

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: greatly · floor · example · #983: class · century · sorry · share

Old Irish

Verb

·class

  1. singular passive preterite conjunct of claidid

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
·class ·chlass ·class
pronounced with /-ɡ(ʲ)-/
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Etymology

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”)

Pronunciation

Similar Results