- systematic placement in categories
- one of the divisions in a system of classifying
- the placing of animals and plants in a series of increasingly specialized groups because of similarities in structure, origin, molecular composition, etc, that indicate a common relationship. The major groups are domain or superkingdom, kingdom, phylum (in animals) or division (in plants), class, order, family, genus, and species
- the study of the principles and practice of this process; taxonomy
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
clas•si•fi•ca•tion /ˌklæsəfɪˈkeɪʃən/USA pronunciation
n. a group or class into which something is classified:[countable]Your classifications don't take into account some important differences.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- [uncountable] the act or state of classifying.
clas•si•fi•ca•tion
(klas′ə fi kā′shən),USA pronunciation n.
clas•si•fi•ca•to•ry
(klə sif′i kə tôr′ē, -tōr′ē, klas′ə fi- or, esp. Brit., klas′ə fi kā′tə rē),USA pronunciation adj.
cla•si′fi•ca•to′ri•ly, adv.
clas′si•fi•ca′tion•al, adj.
- the act of classifying.
- the result of classifying or being classified.
- one of the groups or classes into which things may be or have been classified.
- Biologythe assignment of organisms to groups within a system of categories distinguished by structure, origin, etc. The usual series of categories is phylum (or, esp. in botany, division), class, order, family, genus, species, and variety. See table under taxonomy.
- Governmentthe category, as restricted, confidential, secret, or top secret, to which information, a document, etc., is assigned, as by a government or military agency, based on the degree of protection considered necessary to safeguard it from unauthorized use.
- Library Scienceany of various systems for arranging books and other materials, esp. according to subject or format.
- Latin classi(s) class + -fication
- 1780–90;
clas′si•fi•ca′tion•al, adj.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
classification /ˌklæsɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/ n
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'classification' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
AC
- Aquarius
- architectonics
- architectonic
- Aries
- artificial
- bibliography
- botany
- break down
- Cancer
- Candolle
- Cape Coloured
- Capricorn
- category
- classify
- classified
- cryptogam
- decimal classification
- denomination
- descriptive
- Dewey Decimal System
- division
- D-notice
- domain
- Draper
- Eichler
- essentialism
- ethnic
- exact
- Gell-Mann
- Gemini
- heraldry
- historical linguistics
- identify
- ISO rating
- Landsteiner
- Leo
- Libra
- major league
- nomenclator
- nosology
- number
- oncology
- ordinal
- ornithology
- palo cortado
- petrography
- phonemics
- pigeonhole
- ABO system
