classe

Forms

classe f (plural classi)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin classis (“division of the Roman people; levy; fleet”).^[2][3][4][1] In several modern senses it was influenced by French classe.^[5] The popular outcome of the same Latin word is chiasso “alley”, found at Lucca in 769.^[3][6]

The ancients connected the Latin noun with calō (“to call out, summon”), and Nocentini thinks this the most sensible proposal: the first sense would have been “a calling out”, then a class of citizens called to arms, an army and finally a fleet.^[3][7][8] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *klāssis (“call-out, appeal”) and Proto-Indo-European *klh₁-d(h)-ti- (“a call”), but calls this a paper reconstruction, since the formation has no outside support and the double ⟨ss⟩ would be expected to simplify after a long vowel.^[7][1] A link with Ancient Greek κέλαδος (kélados, “noise”), which Devoto accepted, de Vaan finds semantically unattractive, and DELI and DEI allow an Etruscan origin.^[7][9][2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dante, before 1321, in the Latin sense “fleet”, the only sense the TLIO records for Old Italian.^[2][10][4]

Semantic evolution

The modern senses came later.^[2] In 1612–1613 Traiano Boccalini wrote di prima classe for something first-rate, and in 1623 Giambattista Marino used the word for a group of animals or things with common features, a use of the natural sciences, which began to classify systematically in the 17th century.^[2][11] From the natural sciences 18th-century economists took it for a social group, first recorded in Galiani in 1705.^[2][11] Tullio De Mauro showed in 1958 that this sense came neither from Marx nor straight from Latin through the economists alone, and Marx's thought later defined and spread it.^[2][12]

Giambattista Vico used the word in 1725 for a group of pupils at the same stage of study, and the sense “classroom” appears in 1910 in Marino Moretti.^[2] Cavour, before 1861, used it for the soldiers of one year's levy.^[2] Classes on means of transport are recorded from 1858, and di classe “classy, of high quality” from 1935.^[2] Gaetano Mosca wrote of the classe politica in 1883.^[5]

Timeline

• Before 1321 – Dante uses classe for a fleet.^[2][10]
• 1612–1613 – Boccalini writes di prima classe.^[2]
• 1623 – Marino uses it for a group of things or animals.^[2]
• 1705 – Galiani uses it for a social group.^[2]
• 1725 – Vico uses it for a group of pupils.^[2]
• 1858 – Classes on means of transport are recorded.^[2]
• Before 1861 – Cavour uses it for a year's levy of soldiers.^[2]
• 1883 – Gaetano Mosca writes of the classe politica.^[5]
• 1910 – Marino Moretti uses it for a classroom.^[2]
• 1935 – Di classe “classy” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history) Each of the five census groups into which the citizens of ancient Rome were divided.^[4][11][13]
2. A social class: a stratum of society sharing an economic and social condition: la classe operaia.^{[4][11][12][13]}
3. The people who practise the same profession: la classe forense.^[4][12][13]
4. A group of things with shared features, a category.^[4][13]
5. (biology) A taxonomic rank above order and below phylum.^[4][11][12]
6. (mathematics, computing) A set, and in programming the abstract description of a kind of object.^[4][1][14]
7. (military) The soldiers of one year's levy, and by extension all the people born in the same year: Sono della classe 1990.^[4][13]
8. A school year or form, and the pupils in it: Mia figlia fa la terza classe.^[4][15]
9. A classroom: Il professore è appena entrato in classe.^[4][2][1]
10. A category of service on trains, ships and aircraft: viaggiare in prima classe.^[2][8]
11. (figurative) Distinction, high quality: un giocatore di classe.^[12][2][1]

Word family

• classificare
• classifica
• classificazione
• classismo
• classista
• fuoriclasse
• declassare
• surclassare

Related words

• classico
• chiasso
• Latin classis
• French classe
• English class

Usage notes

Lotta di classe (class struggle), coscienza di classe (class consciousness), classe dirigente (ruling class) and classe politica (the political class) are common phrases.^[11][13][15] Classe media translates English middle class.^[11][16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 975
6. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
7. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
12. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
15. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
16. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana