classical
English
Etymology
From classic, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin classicus (of the first class).
Pronunciation
Adjective
classical (comparative more classical, superlative most classical)
- Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art.
- 1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures Explain'd and Exemplify'd in Several Dissertations, page 15:
- ... Mr. Greaves, who may be juſtly reckoned a Claſſical Author on this Subject.
- Of or pertaining to established principles in a discipline.
- 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page vii:
- Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get; what you get is classical alpha-taxonomy which is, very largely and for sound reasons, in disrepute today.
- (music) Describing European music and musicians of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
- (informal, music) Describing art music (rather than pop, jazz, blues, etc), especially when played using instruments of the orchestra.
- Of or pertaining to the ancient Greeks and Romans, especially 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.
- 1853, Thomas Babington Macaulay, "Atterbury, Francis" in Encyclopædia Britannica (8th ed.). Dated through The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, page 344
- He [Atterbury] directed the classical studies of the undergraduates of his college.
- 1853, Thomas Babington Macaulay, "Atterbury, Francis" in Encyclopædia Britannica (8th ed.). Dated through The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, page 344
- Conforming to the best authority in literature and art; chaste; pure; refined
- classical dance.
- 1848, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume 1, page 151.
- Classical, provincial, and national synods.
- (physics) Pertaining to models of physical laws that do not take quantum or relativistic effects into account; Newtonian or Maxwellian.
Synonyms
Derived terms
- anteclassical
- anticlassical
- Classical antiquity
- classical antiquity
- Classical Arabic
- Classical Armenian
- Classical Chinese
- classical computer
- classical conditioning
- Classical English
- classical era
- Classical Greece
- Classical Greek
- classical guitar
- classical guitarist
- classical hadrodynamics
- Classical Hebrew
- classical history
- classical inheritance
- classicalist
- classicality
- classicalization
- classicalize
- Classical Japanese
- classical language
- Classical Latin
- classical logic
- classically
- classical mechanics
- classical music
- Classical Nahuatl
- classicalness
- classical physics
- Classical Sanskrit
- Classical Studies
- classical studies
- Classical Syriac
- classical thermodynamics
- Classical Tupi
- classical unemployment
- epiclassical
- neoclassical
- nonclassical
- paleoclassical
- preclassical
- pseudoclassical
- quasiclassical
- semiclassical
- superclassical
- unclassical
Translations
literature etc
|
describing a style of music
|
Greek and Roman
|
in physics
|
art etc
|
Usage notes
Further reading
- “classical”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “classical”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- classical, classic at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.