classical

Pluralclassicals

1. 1
   adjective

   Belonging to ancient Greece and Rome, especially to their greatest writers, the era of their finest literature, or the places they made famous.

   His classical education centered on the orators and poets of ancient Athens.

   They toured the classical ruins scattered across the Greek mainland.

   Similarancient, classic

   Note

   This is the sense behind classical studies and a classical education. Macaulay in 1853 writes of Atterbury directing "the classical studies of the undergraduates of his college." Historians of Greece also narrow the word to a single phase, the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, between the Archaic and the Hellenistic. A classical site can therefore mean simply Greek or Roman, or specifically of that age.

2. 2
   adjective

   Belonging to the Western music and composers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

   Mozart's quartets are landmarks of the classical era.

   The orchestra devoted its season to classical works by Haydn and his contemporaries.

   Note

   A period name in the strict sense, the one music historians use when they place Haydn and Mozart between the Baroque and the Romantic. Used this way it shuts out both its neighbors, and there it parts company with the everyday "art music" meaning. A Baroque concerto is classical music in the record shop, but it is not classical in a history of music.

3. 3
   adjectivecolloquial

   Belonging to art music, as distinct from pop, jazz, or blues, especially when performed on orchestral instruments.

   He prefers classical recordings over anything in the pop charts.

   The cellist trained in classical performance before joining a jazz ensemble.

   Oppositepopular

   Note

   The broad, informal label gathers the whole concert-hall tradition, of any century, and sets it against pop, jazz and blues. It works well as a genre contrast in conversation. In careful writing about music, a reader may take it as the strict period name. There, "art music" or a named era removes the ambiguity.

4. 4
   adjective

   Based on the long-established, foundational principles of a field or discipline.

   Classical economics rests on assumptions about rational, self-interested actors.

   Her training followed the classical model of apprenticeship under a master.

   Similartraditional, orthodox, conventional, established, standard

   Oppositemodern, unorthodox

   Note

   In scientific writing the word marks the older, standard approach that newer methods are measured against, and it can carry a hint of being superseded. Rudolf Schuster in 1992 calls classical alpha-taxonomy "in disrepute today." Context decides whether classical praises a method as foundational or sets it aside as old-fashioned, so read the surrounding sentence before taking it as a compliment.

5. 5
   adjective

   Of the first rank or highest class, especially in literature or art.

   These plays are counted among the classical achievements of the stage.

   The collection includes classical masterpieces that defined their genre.

   Similarclassic, outstanding, canonical

   Note

   Here the word stays closest to class itself. It is class plus -ical, or classic plus -al, and a classical work is one ranked in the first class. John Arbuthnot in 1727 calls Mr. Greaves "a Classical Author on this Subject," meaning the authority to rely on. That praise went to a writer on ancient coins and weights, so it was never reserved for poets and painters.

6. 6
   adjective

   Conforming to the highest standards in literature and art; refined, pure, and restrained in taste.

   The prose has a classical purity, free of ornament and excess.

   His restrained, classical taste favored balance over flamboyance.

   Similarrefined, restrained, elegant, austere

   Oppositeromantic, flamboyant, ornate

7. 7
   adjective

   Relating to physical models that leave out quantum and relativistic effects, such as Newtonian or Maxwellian physics.

   Classical mechanics accurately predicts the motion of planets and projectiles.

   At atomic scales, classical models break down and quantum theory takes over.

   Oppositequantum, relativistic

   Note

   Physicists use it as a contrast term. Classical stands against quantum and relativistic, so a classical treatment is the Newtonian or Maxwellian one that holds at everyday speeds and ordinary scales. Here the word implies no age and no prestige. A classical approximation is simply the case where quantum and relativistic corrections can safely be ignored.

8. 8
   nouncountable or uncountableabbreviationellipsis

   Ellipsis of classical music.

   He switched the radio to classical during dinner.

   Most of her record collection is classical.

   Note

   When music is dropped, the adjective does the noun's work, usually without an article: put on some classical, a fan of classical. Like the full phrase, it can mean the music of Mozart and Haydn's era or serious concert music in general. In casual talk about radio or records, the broad reading is the natural one, matching the "art music" adjective.

9. 9
   adjective

   Well-versed and skilled in the classics: the literature and learning of ancient Greece and Rome.

   A deeply classical scholar, she could quote Homer from memory.

   His classical learning showed in every reference to ancient authors.

   Note

   In a classical scholar, the word describes the person rather than the subject. It also stretches well beyond Greece and Rome. Brian Seibert, writing in 2022 about the tap dancer Dormeshia, says she is "not just classy; she's classical," so versed in tap tradition that she commands all of it. Said of a person, it means mastery of a tradition, whatever that tradition is.

10. 10
    nouncountable

    A person or thing characterized as classical: for instance, an economist who follows established, traditional principles.

    Among the panelists, the classical defended free markets against every objection.

    She was a classical at heart, trusting the established doctrines of her field.

    Note

    A noun at home in economics, where schools of thought are named for their members. James E. Hartley in 2002 writes that "the new classicals never claimed to be Austrians," and Austrians works exactly the same way. The noun is countable, and its natural shape is the plural with a qualifier, the new classicals. A lone "a classical" sounds odd outside that setting.

11. 11
    nouncountable or uncountableabbreviationellipsis

    Ellipsis of classical chess.

    The world championship is decided in classical, not rapid games.

    Many grandmasters specialize in classical.

    Note

    Chess players shorten classical chess to a bare noun, as in play classical, set against blitz and rapid. It names the slow time control, with games that can run several hours, and it is the usual format at professional tournaments. The adjective survives in phrases like the classical time format, which Brian Pempus uses in 2022 for Carlsen's loss to Niemann.

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