category

American  

[kat-i-gawr-ee, -gohr-ee] / ˈkæt ɪˌgɔr i, -ˌgoʊr i /

noun

• categories
  plural

1. 

   any general or comprehensive division; a class.

   Synonyms:

   type, grouping, group

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

3. Metaphysics.

   1. (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.

   2. (in Kantian philosophy) any of the fundamental principles of the understanding, as the principle of causation.

   3. any classification of terms that is ultimate and not susceptible to further analysis.

4. Also called Guggenheim. (used with a singular verb) categories. 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.

5. 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.

6. Grammar. part of speech.

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category British  

/ ˈkætɪɡərɪ /

noun

1. a class or group of things, people, etc, possessing some quality or qualities in common; a division in a system of classification

2. metaphysics any one of the most basic classes into which objects and concepts can be analysed

3. 1. (in the philosophy of Aristotle) any one of ten most fundamental modes of being, such as quantity, quality, and substance

   2. (in the philosophy of Kant) one of twelve concepts required by human beings to interpret the empirical world

   3. any set of objects, concepts, or expressions distinguished from others within some logical or linguistic theory by the intelligibility of a specific set of statements concerning them See also category mistake

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• categories
  plural

Etymology

Origin of category

First recorded in 1580–90; from Late Latin catēgoria, from Greek katēgoría “accusation” (in logic, “predication”), from katēgoreîn “to accuse, affirm,” from kata- cata- + agoreúein “to speak before the agora ¹ ” + -ia -y ³

Explanation

A category is a group of things that share some commonality. Think of the game show "Jeopardy!," and how each column is a different category of questions — like "Literary Characters" or "Potent Potables." The noun category has the sense of ordering or sorting. In Biology, the science of taxonomy is all about categorizing all living organisms. It might be an easier task to categorize books in a library according to genre (e.g., fiction, non-fiction, mysteries, etc.) or to categorize the shoes in your closet according to season.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

category categories

About 80% of the loans are rated at or below BBB—the lowest category of investment grade.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

Estimates from randomized trials have differed sharply, with some studies suggesting that 30-50% of breast cancers detected through screening could fall into this category.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

That’s after finishing second in the conference in that category a year ago.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

Under new rules, winners of designated prizes at six international festivals can qualify for consideration in the International Feature Film category without relying solely on their country's official submission.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

Petra didn’t think much about what racial category she belonged to—her family had let go of that way of looking at things a long time ago.

From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett

Instead, LA28 released only broad categories of the work completed — such as “engineering consulting services,” “mascot design and production” and “office buildout.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

The US could reduce tariffs on 77 categories of Chinese goods including fireworks, Christmas ornaments, household goods and sports equipment.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

Managers are also asked to assess the program participants on nine different categories, like innovation and resilience, while employees are prompted to list their top strengths and weaknesses.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

He tells the BBC's Sliced Bread podcast that most people fall into one of three categories of sleeper: side, back or front.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

English, on the other hand, poses a challenge for people like Sasha who don’t see themselves as fitting into neat either/or categories like male or female.

From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater

Related Words

• class
• division
• grade
• group
• kind
• league
• level
• list
• rank
• section
• tier