category

[ kat-i-gawr-ee, -gohr-ee ]

/ ˈkæt ɪˌgɔr i, -ˌgoʊr i /

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noun, plural cat·e·go·ries.

any general or comprehensive division; a class.

a classificatory division in any field of knowledge, as a phylum or any of its subdivisions in biology.

Metaphysics.

(in Aristotelian philosophy) any of the fundamental modes of existence, such as substance, quality, and quantity, as determined by analysis of the different possible kinds of predication.
(in Kantian philosophy) any of the fundamental principles of the understanding, as the principle of causation.
any classification of terms that is ultimate and not susceptible to further analysis.

categories. Also called Guggenheim. (used with a singular verb) a game in which a key word and a list of categories, as dogs, automobiles, or rivers, are selected, and in which each player writes down a word in each category that begins with each of the letters of the key word, the player writing down the most words within a time limit being declared the winner.

Mathematics. a type of mathematical object, as a set, group, or metric space, together with a set of mappings from such an object to other objects of the same type.

Grammar. part of speech.

OTHER WORDS FOR category

1 group, grouping, type.

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Origin of category

1580–90; <Late Latin catēgoria <Greek katēgoría “accusation” (in logic, “predication”), from katēgoreîn “to accuse, affirm,” equivalent to kata- cata- + agoreúein “to speak before the agora¹ ” + -ia -y³

How to use category in a sentence

There is also “other” and “willing to convert” (more on those categories later).
My Week on Jewish Tinder|Emily Shire|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Back in 2001, that “definition” of female beauty basically fell into two categories: Playboy chic, or heroin chic.
Masters of Alt Sex: SuicideGirls Hits Puberty and Wants to Invade Your TV Set|Marlow Stern|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Over the course of five hours, a handful of categories at a time have been revealed.
10 Biggest Grammy Award Snubs and Surprises: Meghan Trainor, Miley Cyrus & More|Kevin Fallon|December 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Satisfaction does not insist on setting up clear categories of heroism and villainy, good, and evil.
Is ‘Satisfaction’ a Love Story That’s Too Real About Sex and Marriage?|David Masciotra|September 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST

They splintered themselves into two categories: “Hardcore” and “Casual.”
Death of ‘Gamer’ Identity: How Hardcore Trolls Pwned Themselves|Alec Kubas-Meyer|September 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The arrows represent the flow of money from each of these four categories to the others.
Readings in Money and Banking|Chester Arthur Phillips
Statistics distinguish these three categories of cheques and enable us to follow their movement.
Social Comptabilism, Cheque and Clearing Service & Proposed Law|Ernest Solvay
The numbers in the list coming under these categories are named “—— sp.”
Mount Everest the Reconnaissance, 1921|Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury
Now, as posture and location have already been studied, what is the use in here combining two categories into one?
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 3|Plotinos (Plotinus)
Let us therefore leave this point, and devote ourselves to the division into four categories.
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 3|Plotinos (Plotinus)

British Dictionary definitions for category

Word Origin for category

C15: from Late Latin catēgoria, from Greek katēgoria, from kategorein to accuse, assert

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012