v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Classed p. pr. & vb. n. Classing. ] [ Cf. F. classer. See Class, n. ] 1. To arrange in classes; to classify or refer to some class; as, to class words or passages. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ In scientific arrangement, to classify is used instead of to class. Dana. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To divide into classes, as students; to form into, or place in, a class or classes. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To be grouped or classed. [ 1913 Webster ]

The genus or family under which it classes. Tatham. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. classe, fr. L. classis class, collection, fleet; akin to Gr. klh^sis a calling, kalei^n to call, E. claim, haul. ] 1. A group of individuals ranked together as possessing common characteristics; as, the different classes of society; the educated class; the lower classes. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A number of students in a school or college, of the same standing, or pursuing the same studies. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A comprehensive division of animate or inanimate objects, grouped together on account of their common characteristics, in any classification in natural science, and subdivided into orders, families, tribes, genera, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A set; a kind or description, species or variety. [ 1913 Webster ]

She had lost one class energies. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Methodist Church) One of the sections into which a church or congregation is divided, and which is under the supervision of a class leader. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. One session of formal instruction in which one or more teachers instruct a group on some subject. The class may be one of a course of classes, or a single special session. [ PJC ]

7. A high degree of elegance, in dress or behavior; the quality of bearing oneself with dignity, grace, and social adeptness. [ PJC ]

Class of a curve (Math.), the kind of a curve as expressed by the number of tangents that can be drawn from any point to the curve. A circle is of the second class. --
Class meeting (Methodist Church), a meeting of a class under the charge of a class leader, for counsel and relegious instruction. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. exhibiting refinement and high character; as, a class act. Opposite of low-class [ informal ]
Syn. -- high-class. [ PJC ]

. In American colleges and universities, a day of the commencement season on which the senior class celebrates the completion of its course by exercises conducted by the members, such as the reading of the class histories and poem, the delivery of the class oration, the planting of the class ivy, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Capable of being classed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A work of acknowledged excellence and authority, or its author; -- originally used of Greek and Latin works or authors, but now applied to authors and works of a like character in any language. [ 1913 Webster ]

In is once raised him to the rank of a legitimate English classic. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One learned in the literature of Greece and Rome, or a student of classical literature. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ L. classicus relating to the classes of the Roman people, and especially to the frist class; hence, of the first rank, superior, from classis class: cf. F. classique. See Class, n. ] 1. Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. [ 1913 Webster ]

Give, as thy last memorial to the age,
One classic drama, and reform the stage. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mr. Greaves may justly be reckoned a classical author on this subject [ Roman weights and coins ]. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to the ancient Greeks and Romans, esp. to Greek or Roman authors of the highest rank, or of the period when their best literature was produced; of or pertaining to places inhabited by the ancient Greeks and Romans, or rendered famous by their deeds. [ 1913 Webster ]

Though throned midst Latium's classic plains. Mrs. Hemans. [ 1913 Webster ]

The epithet classical, as applied to ancient authors, is determined less by the purity of their style than by the period at which they wrote. Brande & C. [ 1913 Webster ]

He [ Atterbury ] directed the classical studies of the undergraduates of his college. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Conforming to the best authority in literature and art; chaste; pure; refined; as, a classical style. [ 1913 Webster ]

Classical, provincial, and national synods. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Classicals orders. (Arch.) See under Order. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A classical idiom, style, or expression; a classicism. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Adherence to what are supposed or assumed to be the classical canons of art. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who adheres to what he thinks the classical canons of art. Ruskin. [ 1913 Webster ]