subclass

[suhb-klas, -klahs]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR subclass ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a primary division of a class.

a subordinate class, especially one of persons who lack the rights and privileges of the primary class: a subclass of alien workers.

Biology. a category of related orders within a class.

verb (used with object)

to place in a subclass.

Origin of subclass

First recorded in 1810–20; sub- + class

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for subclass

position, line, place, tract, set, family, grade, rank, species, slot, estate, breed, pigeonhole, hierarchy, station, branch, feather, type, sort, description

Examples from the Web for subclass

Historical Examples of subclass

Difficulty of entitling a subclass corresponding to every combination.
The Classification of Patents
United States Patent Office
This superorder is equivalent to the subclass Azygostei of Hay.
A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2)
David Starr Jordan
This subclass, like the previous one, contains only a single order, viz.
The Vertebrate Skeleton
Sidney H. Reynolds
This subclass contains some of the most remarkable of the seaweeds.
The Sea-beach at Ebb-tide
Augusta Foote Arnold
There remains the fourth subclass—Dipnoi or Dipneusti, the lungfishes.
Zoology: The Science of Animal Life
Ernest Ingersoll

British Dictionary definitions for subclass

subclass

noun

a principal subdivision of a class

biology a taxonomic group that is a subdivision of a class

maths another name for subset (def. 1)

verb

(tr) to assign to a subclass

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

subclass in Medicine