category English · revision 4424

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1588|origins=grc κατηγορία}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈkæt.ə.ɡər.i/, US /ˈkæt̬.ə.ɡɔːr.i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|catégorie]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) or directly [[der|la-lat|catēgoria]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[grc|κατηγορία|tr=katēgoría|t=accusation, assertion, predication]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) from katēgorein “to speak against, accuse, assert”,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from kata- “down to, against” and agoreuein “to speak in the assembly”, from agorā “assembly”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[ine-pro|*h₂ger-|alt=*ger-|t=to gather]].^(Etymonline) Hoad and Word Origins derive it from katēgoros “accuser”.^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) It is related to [[agora]] and [[gregarious]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Aristotle's logic, each of his ten classes of terms: 1588 in the OED and Barnhart,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) though the plural form Categories, for his work, is found as early as 1450.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Greek verb's sense “accuse” had weakened to “assert, name” by the time Aristotle applied katēgoria to his ten classes of things that can be named simply.^(Etymonline) Precisely what he meant by it has been disputed almost since his own day.^(Etymonline) The general sense, a class or division in any scheme of classification, is from 1660,^(OED 1989) and Kant's use, for the a priori concepts of the understanding, is cited in English from 1829.^(OED 1989) An obsolete sense “accusation”, after the Greek, is from 1613.^(OED 1989) In mathematics, a category is from 1945.^(OED 1989) ''Categorical'' is from 1598^(Barnhart 1988) and ''categorize'' from 1705.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1588 – Aristotle's categories.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1598 – ''categorical''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1613 – an accusation (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1660 – a class in a classification.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1705 – ''categorize''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1829 – Kant's categories.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1945 – in mathematics.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A class or division in a system of [[classification]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(philosophy)'' Any of the most general classes of things or concepts, as in [[Aristotle]] or [[Kant]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' A collection of objects with mappings between them.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[subcategory]]

+ * [[category killer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[categorial]]

+ * [[categorical]]

+ * [[categorise]]

+ * [[categorize]]

+ * [[agora]]

+ * [[gregarious]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}