class

Topic: EDUCATION

Date:	1500-1600
Language:	French
Origin:	classe, from Latin classis 'class of citizens, social class'

class
1 noun

class1 S1 W1 See pronunciation table in "How to use dictionary" pages

social group

a) [countable] one of the groups in a society that different types of people are divided into according to their jobs, income, education etc

professional/landowning/working etc class

Look up a word starting with D or S for samples of headword or sentence pronunciations on the LDOCE CD-ROM

a Marxist view of the ruling classes

a member of the landed class (=people who own land)

class divisions/differences etc

social class inequalities

➔ lower class , middle class , upper class , working class

; ➔ the chattering classes

at chatter1 (4)

b) [uncountable] the system in which people are divided into these groups:

Defining the concept of class is not an easy task.

class system/structure

The old class system is slowly disappearing.

students

[C, also + plural verb British English]SE

a) a group of students who are taught together [↪ classmate]

in a class

We're in the same class for math.

Gary came top of the class in English.

My class are going to the Lake District.

b) American English a group of students who finished studying together in the same year [↪ classmate]:

a class reunion

the class of 1965/2001 etc (=the group of students who finished in 1965 etc)

The class of '69 spent almost as much time protesting as learning.

teaching period

[uncountable and countable]SE a period of time during which someone teaches a group of people, especially in a school [= lesson British English]

geography/French/cooking etc class

I missed Bible class last week.

in class (=during the class)

No talking in class!

Were you late for class this morning?

have a class American English

I have physics class at 9:30 on Tuesdays.

studying

[countable] a series of classes in a particular subject [= course British English]

class in

a class in photography at night school

dance/aerobics/Greek etc class

Dance classes start at 5:15.

take/attend/do a class (=go to a series of classes)

Cindy's taking a class on dealing with stress.

He attended evening classes at the local college.

same type of something

[countable]HB a group of people, animals, or things that are considered together because they are similar in some way

class of

Have you passed a test for this class of vehicle?

train/aircraft etc

[countable usually singular] one of the different standards of seats, food etc available on a train, aircraft etc

first/business/tourist etc class

We always travel first class.

quality

[countable] a group into which people or things are divided according to their quality or abilities

nicer/better etc class of something

The port now attracts a wealthier class of visitor.

in a class of its own/in a different class (=better than everything else)

Its sheer versatility puts this computer in a different class.

He's not in the same class (=not as good) as her at tennis.

style/skill

[uncountable] informal a high level of style or skill in something [↪ classy]

have/show class

The team showed real class in this afternoon's match.

A fountain will give your garden a touch of class.

class player/actress etc

a class act informal (=someone who is skilful, attractive etc)

Laughton is a class act who's proved his worth in the game.

➔ high-class , low-class

university degree

[countable] British EnglishSEC one of the three levels of a university degree:

a second class degree

Definition of class from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English within
the topic EDUCATION