/CLASS-meaning-etymology

// Verb.

// Pronunciation: klɑːs, or klæs.

// Etymology: from the noun CLASS, from Latin classis “class”.

// Preterite tense: classed. Preterite participle: classed.

// Present participle: classing.

// It is dated from 1700.

// Transitive: to consider (someone or something) to belong to a particular class or group because of their or its common qualities; assign to its proper class.

// Synonym: classify.

// Antonyms: disclass, declass.

// Translation: clasificar, in Spanish; classificare, in Italian; classer, in French.

There are many mountains, indeed, which have not the smallest appearance of being formed under the waters, and this fact causes an insurmountable difficulty in classing mountains.

R. Sulivan… A View of Nature… 1794

… I have already remarked that it is doubtful whether New Zealand and New Caledonia ought to be classed as oceanic islands.

Darwin… On the origin of species… 1859

The term "barrier" has been generally applied to that vast reef which fronts the N.E. shore of Australia, and by most voyagers likewise to that on the western coast of New Caledonia. At one time I thought it convenient thus to restrict the term, but as these reefs are similar in structure, and in position relatively to the land, to those, which, like a wall with a deep moat within, encircle many smaller islands, I have classed them together.

Darwin… Coral reefs… 1842

… so many places of interest did I visit, that I might rather have been classed as a "commercial tourist" than as a commercial traveler.

Clifford Beers… A Mind… 1908

// With the preposition “under” (it implies subordination to a noun that is designative of the class):

If two species belonging to two distinct though allied genera, had both produced a large number of new and divergent forms, it is conceivable that these might approach each other so closely that they would have all to be classed under the same genus.

Darwin… On the origin of species… 1859

Love, lust… harlotry, all words found in the dictionary, and all of which I suppose may be classed under the term erotic.

Walter… My secret life… 1888

//  With the preposition “with”:

My partiality towards my sister Mary had not been unnoticed. Lucretia classed me with those whom she despised.

R. Hunter… Lady Maclairn… 1806

[The Lama] is used, in South America, for the same services which the Arabians impose upon on the camel, and is classed by naturalists with that animal.

B. Silliman… A journal of travels… 1810

In deciding whether a bat should be classed with birds or beasts, we have to determine the nature of the beast and the true theory of his wings.

The Fortnightly… 1871

//  With the preposition “among”:

… it is that substances which have at one time been classed among plants, have at another time been classed among animals.

C. Loudon… An encyclopedia of gardening… 1839

This bird is of a brown colour. Some naturalists have classed it among the vultures, because its neck and head are bare of feathers.

J. Bigland… A natural history of birds… 1845

// Intransitive: to be classed or grouped.

The merit of every individual is to be estimated by a comparison with the genius under which it classes.

The English Review… 1788

// Words derived from Latin classis: declassify, declassifiable, declassification, declassified, disclassify, classable, classed, classer, classic, classical, classicality, classicalize, classically, classicism, classicist, classicistic, classicize, classifiable, classific, classifically, classification, classificational, classificator, classificatory, classified, classifier, classify, classifying, classiness, classing, classless, classlessness, classmate, classy, unclassable, unclassed, unclassic, unclassical, unclassically, unclassifiable, unclassified.