classification

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌklæsɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from French classification, from classe (“class”) (see class) and -fication,^[2][3] or formed from the Latin stem of classify.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of arranging in classes: 1772 in Etymonline, 1790 in the OED;^[4][5] MWU dates it to 1767.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The result of classifying, a systematic arrangement, is from 1789 in Etymonline and 1794 in the OED.^[4][5] In biology it is the arrangement of organisms in groups by their relationships,^[6][7] and in government the grading of documents by secrecy is a later sense.^[6][7]

Timeline

• 1767 – first use (MWU).^[2]
• 1772 – the act of classifying.^[4]
• 1789 – the result of classifying.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act or process of arranging things in classes or groups.
2. A category or class into which something is put.
3. (biology) The systematic grouping of organisms; taxonomy.
4. The grading of official information by secrecy.

Word family

• classificatorily
• classificatory
• classificational
• misclassification
• nonclassification
• overclassification
• subclassification

Related words

• class
• classic
• classify
• classified

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins