n.
Pronunciation: ' klas
Function: noun
Usage: often attrib
Etymology: French classe, from Latin classis group called to military service, fleet, class; perhaps akin to Latin calare to call ― more at LOW
Date: 1602
1 a : a body of students meeting regularly to study the same subject b : the period during which such a body meets c : a course of instruction d : a body of students or alumni whose year of graduation is the same
2 a : a group sharing the same economic or social status <the working class > b : social rank especially : high social rank c : high quality : ELEGANCE <a hotel with class >
3 : a group, set, or kind sharing common attributes: as a : a major category in biological taxonomy ranking above the order and below the phylum or division b : a collection of adjacent and discrete or continuous values of a random variable c : SET 21
4 : a division or rating based on grade or quality
5 : the best of its kind <the class of the league>
6 : a data type in object-oriented programming that consists of a group of objects with the same properties and behaviors and that is arranged in a hierarchy with other such data types ― compare OBJECT