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classification

[klas-uh-fi-key-shuh n]
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noun
  1. the act of classifying.
  2. the result of classifying or being classified.
  3. one of the groups or classes into which things may be or have been classified.
  4. Biology. the assignment of organisms to groups within a system of categories distinguished by structure, origin, etc. The usual series of categories is phylum (or, especially in botany, division), class, order, family, genus, species, and variety.
  5. the category, as restricted, confidential, secret, or top secret, to which information, a document, etc., is assigned, as by a government or military agency, based on the degree of protection considered necessary to safeguard it from unauthorized use.
  6. Library Science. any of various systems for arranging books and other materials, especially according to subject or format.
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Origin of classification

1780–90; < Latin classi(s) class + -fication
Related formsclas·si·fi·ca·to·ry [kluh-sif-i-kuh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, klas-uh-fi- or, esp. British, klas-uh-fi-key-tuh-ree] /kləˈsɪf ɪ kəˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i, ˈklæs ə fɪ- or, esp. British, ˌklæs ə fɪˈkeɪ tə ri/, adjectivecla·si·fi·ca·to·ri·ly, adverbclas·si·fi·ca·tion·al, adjectivemis·clas·si·fi·ca·tion, nounnon·clas·si·fi·ca·tion, nouno·ver·clas·si·fi·ca·tion, nounpre·clas·si·fi·ca·tion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for classificatory

Historical Examples

  • This, however, is almost his only classificatory innovation.

    British Quarterly Review, American Edition, Volume LIV

    Various

  • Indeed, classificatory systems are often more descriptive than our own.

  • The classificatory systems of Oceania vary greatly in character.

  • It is not necessary to have an expert knowledge of the classificatory system.

  • This is one of the characteristics of the classificatory system.

    Ancient Society

    Lewis Henry Morgan

British Dictionary definitions for classificatory

classification

noun
  1. systematic placement in categories
  2. one of the divisions in a system of classifying
  3. biology
    1. the placing of animals and plants in a series of increasingly specialized groups because of similarities in structure, origin, molecular composition, etc, that indicate a common relationship. The major groups are domain or superkingdom, kingdom, phylum (in animals) or division (in plants), class, order, family, genus, and species
    2. the study of the principles and practice of this process; taxonomy
  4. government the designation of an item of information as being secret and not available to people outside a restricted group
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Derived Formsclassificational, adjectiveclassificatory, adjective

Word Origin

C18: from French; see class, -ify, -ation
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

Word Origin and History for classificatory

adj.

1825, from Latin stem of classify + -ory.

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classification

n.

1772, "action of classifying," noun of action from Latin stem of classify, or from French classification. Meaning "result of classifying" is from 1789.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
classificatory in Medicine

classification

(klăs′ə-fĭ-kā′shən)
n.
  1. A systematic arrangement into classes or groups.
  2. The systematic grouping of organisms into categories on the basis of evolutionary or structural relationships between them; taxonomy.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
classificatory in Science

classification

[klăs′ə-fĭ-kā′shən]
  1. The systematic grouping of organisms according to the structural or evolutionary relationships among them. Organisms are normally classified by observed similarities in their body and cell structure or by evolutionary relationships based on the analysis of sequences of their DNA. See more at cladistics Linnean. See Table at taxonomy.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.