class
Pluralclasses
Verbclasses, classing, classed
Pluralclasses
Formsclasses, classing, classed
- 1A group of students who meet with a teacher at set times to learn.
Like a sports team that meets with the same coach at set times.
The whole class stood up when the teacher came in.
Our class went quiet during the test.
UsageUsually say the class is, but the class are is also possible. You can use they for the students.
- 2
- 3A set of lessons about one subject, taught over a period of time.
She signed up for a pottery class at the community center.
I'm taking a Spanish class this semester.
UsageSay take a class: I'm taking a Spanish class.
Similarcourse
- 4
- 5A social group based on money, work, or status, or the way society is divided into these groups.
Like sorting people into groups by how much money and what kind of work they do.
Many families moved into the middle class after the war.
People from every class joined the protest.
UsageWrite working-class with a hyphen before a noun: working-class families.
Note
- 6
- 7A level of seats on a plane, train, or bus, each with a different price and comfort.
We booked the cheapest class for the long train ride.
First class has wider seats and more room.
UsageSay fly business class or travel first class, with no the.
Note
- 8A special quality of being very good, stylish, or graceful.
That little hotel by the sea is real class.
Their cooking is pure class from start to finish.
UsageSay with class or real class. The class of a group is the best one.
Similarstyle, elegance, quality, distinction, sophistication
Note
- 9A template in programming that describes a kind of object and the actions it can perform.
Like a cookie cutter you use to make many cookies that all share the same shape.
The programmer wrote a new class to handle user accounts.
Each class in the program defines its own data and methods.
Note
- 10One of the big levels scientists use to sort living things, or a group of living things at that level.
Birds and reptiles belong to different classes of animals.
A class includes many smaller groups called orders.
Note
- 11To say which group someone or something belongs to.
Like sorting your toys into boxes by type.
Do you class a tomato as a fruit or a vegetable?
The museum classes each fossil by its age.
UsageSay class something as: classed as a fruit.
Similarclassify, categorize, group, rank
- 12
Less common meanings
- 13A range of values grouped together so that data can be counted and compared.
Like sorting ages into groups such as 0–9, 10–19, and so on.
Each class on the chart covers a span of ten points.
A score of 72 goes into the class from 70 to 79.
Similarbin
Note
- 14In advanced math, a group of sets that all share a property, sometimes too large to count as a set.
Like a list so long it can never fit inside any box, even a very big one.
Mathematicians use the idea of a class to handle collections too big to be sets.
Every set is also a class, but not every class is a set.
Note
- 15A group of people called up for military service in the same draft.
- 16In some Methodist churches, a small group of members who meet together under a leader.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
From Latin classis, which meant a group or division of people, later any class or division. It came into English through Middle French classe.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- The ultimate Latin source is classis, meaning a group or division of people and later a class or division generally. en.wiktionary.org
- English borrowed the word through Middle French classe. en.wiktionary.org