class English · revision 2488

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=mid-16th century|origins=la classis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /klɑːs/, US /klæs/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|classe]]^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(MW Collegiate) and directly [[bor|la|classis|t=a division of the Roman people; an army, a fleet]].^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) The Latin word meant especially one of the six classes into which Servius Tullius divided the Roman people for taxation, and was traditionally the people under arms,^(Etymonline) so that it is usually related to [[m|la|calāre|t=to call, summon]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Klein 1966) Watkins derives it from [[ine-pro|*kelə-|t=to shout]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) and Barnhart compares Greek [[m|grc|κέλαδος|tr=kélados|t=noise, clamour]].^(Barnhart 1988) It is related to [[claim]], [[calends]], [[classic]] and [[classical]].^(Klein 1966)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Each of the divisions of the Roman people: mid-16th century.^(SOED 2002) Barnhart's first example, in the Latin form ''classis'', is from 1593, “a division according to rank”.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A class of students is found from 1560^(HTOED) or the mid-16th century,^(Cresswell 2021) in the French form ''classe'' from 1602,^(Barnhart 1988) and the spelling ''class'' by 1664.^(Barnhart 1988) The general sense “kind, category” is from 1583.^(MWU 2024)^(HTOED) Etymonline dates a course or lecture to the 1650s, from the idea of instruction reserved for scholars at a given level,^(Etymonline) and “an order or rank of persons” to the 1660s.^(Etymonline) The biological sense is from 1753,^(Etymonline) and a social class with ''upper'', ''lower'' and so on from 1763.^(Etymonline) The verb “to divide into classes” is from 1705, and “to place in a class” from 1776, in Adam Smith's ''Wealth of Nations''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) ''Class'' as “high quality” is from 1847^(Barnhart 1988) or 1874,^(Etymonline) and ''classy'' from 1891^(Barnhart 1988) or about 1870.^(Cresswell 2021) ''Class-consciousness'' (1903) translates German ''Klassenbewusstsein''.^(Etymonline) ''Classified'' meant simply “arranged in classes” until the sense “secret” appeared in the 1940s.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * mid-16th century – a division of the Roman people.^(SOED 2002)

+ * 1560 – a group of students.^(HTOED)

+ * 1583 – a kind, category.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1602 – ''classe'', a group of students.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1660s – a rank of persons.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1705 – verb, to divide into classes.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1753 – in biology.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1763 – a social class.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1847 – high quality.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1903 – ''class-consciousness''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A group of things that share certain features; a kind or [[category]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A division by quality or grade: ''first class''.^(AHD)

+ # A [[social class]] whose members share economic and social status.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # A group of students taught together, or a meeting of such a group.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(biology)'' A [[taxonomic]] rank above an [[order]] and below a [[phylum]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(informal)'' Elegance, excellence.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To assign to a class; to [[classify]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[classable]]

+ * [[classer]]

+ * [[outclass]]

+ * [[subclass]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[class action]]

+ * [[class struggle]]

+ * [[class act]]

+ * [[classify]]

+ * [[classless]]

+ * [[classroom]]

+ * [[classy]]

+ * [[classic]]

+ * [[classical]]

+ * [[claim]]

+ * [[calends]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}