- The definition of a class is a group of people or things with something in common.
An example of a class is the third grade.
An example of class is this room full of children.
class definition by Webster's New World
noun
- a number of people or things grouped together because of certain likenesses or common traits; kind; sort; category
- a group of people considered as a unit according to economic, occupational, or social status; esp., a social rank or caste: the working class, the middle class
- high social rank or caste
- the division of society into ranks or castes
- ☆
- a group of students taught together according to standing, subject, etc.
- a meeting of such a group
- a group of students graduating together: the class of 1988
- any group of persons that share a given year, as those elected to public office or selected for some honor
- a division or grouping according to grade or quality: as orators, the President and the Senator were not in the same class
- conscripted troops, or men liable to conscription, all of whom were born in the same year: to call up the class of 1947
- Biol. a major category in the classification of animals, plants, etc., ranking above an order and below a division or phylum: it can include one order or many similar orders: the Latinized class names are capitalized but not italicized (Ex.: Mammalia, mammals)
- Gram. in some languages, the formal classification by which nouns are grouped according to animateness, sex, shape, and other criteria
- Informal excellence, esp. of style or appearance
Origin: French classe ; from Classical Latin classis, class or division of the Roman people; akin to calare, to call: see clamor
transitive verb
to put in a class; classify
adjective
- first-class; very good
- elegant; classy
classification
class definition by American Heritage Dictionary
noun
- A set, collection, group, or configuration containing members regarded as having certain attributes or traits in common; a kind or category.
- A division based on quality, rank, or grade, as:a. A grade of mail: a package sent third class.b. A quality of accommodation on public transport: tourist class.
- a. A social stratum whose members share certain economic, social, or cultural characteristics: the lower-income classes.b. Social rank or caste, especially high rank.c. Informal Elegance of style, taste, and manner: an actor with class.
- A level of academic development, as in an elementary or secondary school.
- a. A group of students who are taught together because they have roughly the same level of academic development.b. A group of students or alumni who have the same year of graduation.c. A group of students who meet at a regularly scheduled time to study the same subject.d. The period during which such a group meets: had to stay after class.
- Biology A taxonomic category ranking below a phylum or division and above an order. See Table at taxonomy.
- Statistics An interval in a frequency distribution.
- Linguistics A group of words belonging to the same grammatical category that share a particular set of morphological properties, such as a set of inflections.
To arrange, group, or rate according to qualities or characteristics; assign to a class; classify.
Origin: French classe, from Latin classis, class of citizens; see kelə-2 in Indo-European roots.
class - Business Definition
- See stock class 1.
- Option contracts of the same type (put or call) and style (American or European) on the same security and expiring on the same expiration date.
- Individuals who meet certain established criteria. For example, individuals who have suffered health ills after taking a particular type of drug may qualify as plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit.
class - Computer Definition
Also known as custom calling services. A group of network-based services offered by local exchange carriers (LECs) through the public switched telephone network (PSTN). CLASS services include anonymous call rejection, automatic callback, calling name delivery, calling number delivery, calling number blocking, call waiting, distinctive ringing, call trace, ring again, selective call acceptance, selective call forwarding, selective call rejection, and selective call screening. For more detail, see also the preceding terms.
(1) In object technology, a user-defined data type that defines a collection of objects that share the same characteristics. An object, or class member, is one instance of the class. Concrete classes are designed to be instantiated. Abstract classes are designed to pass on characteristics through inheritance. See instantiate.
(2) In networking, a categorization of a packet based on attributes such as protocol, port and source and destination addresses.
class - Cultural Definition
A group of people sharing the same social, economic, or occupational status. The term class usually implies a social and economic hierarchy, in which those of higher class standing have greater status, privilege, prestige, and authority. Western societies have traditionally been divided into three classes: the upper or leisure class, the middle class (bourgeoisie), and the lower or working class. For Marxists, the significant classes are the bourgeoisie and the proletariat (see also proletariat).
class - Investment & Finance Definition
- See stock class 1.
- Option contracts of the same type (put or call) and style (American or European) on the same security and expiring on the same expiration date.
class - Legal Definition
n
- A category of activities, objects, people, or qualities that have, or are considered to have, certain attributes or characteristics in common.
- An identifiable group of individuals that a regulation or statute deals with or acts upon differently than it does other people. If the group is identified by gender, race, national origin, or religion, such a group is called a protected class or a suspect class. See also suspect classification.
- A group of individuals who have, with the plaintiff in a civil action, a common interest in the subject, facts, and legal issues that the action is based on and who seek to collectively participate in the action so all their claims can be adjudicated in a single proceeding. For example, the passengers of a cruise ship who became ill due to the cruise line’s negligence may constitute a class.
A group of individuals who will share a testamentary gift upon
the death of a testator but whose exact number and identity is not known until
the testator’s death. For example, if a gift is “to my children who survive
me,” it will not be known until the testator’s death who those children are.
See also gift.
class - Medical Definition
noun
A taxonomic category ranking below a phylum or division and above an order.
class - Phrases/Idioms
see cut class.
class - Science Definition
A taxonomic category of organisms ranking above an order and below a phylum or division. In modern taxonomic schemes, the names of classes end in -phyceae for the various groups of algae, -mycetes for fungi, and -opsida for plants (as in Liliopsida, the class of plants also termed monocotyledons). The names of classes belonging to phyla of the animal kingdom, however, are formed in various ways, as Osteichthyes the bony fishes, Aves, the birds, and Mammalia, the mammals, all of which are classes belonging to the subphylum Vertebrata (the vertebrates) in the phylum Chordata. See Table at taxonomy.
