Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

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

class

1 noun
     
Related topics: Biology, Education, College
class1 S1 W1
1

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
a Marxist view of the ruling classes
a member of the landed class (=people who own land)
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.
2

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.
3

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.
4

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.
5

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?
6

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.
7

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.
8

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.
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
9

university degree

[countable] British EnglishSEC one of the three levels of a university degree:
a second class degree
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary