Class

klas, n. a rank or order of persons or things: high rank or social standing: a number of students or scholars who are taught together: a scientific division or arrangement: the position in order of merit of students after examination.— v.t. to form into a cla or cla es: to arrange methodically.— v.i. to take rank.— adjs. Cla ′able , Cla ′ible , capable of being cla ed.— ns. Cla ′-fell′ow , Cla ′-mate , a pupil in the same cla at school or college; Cla ′ic , any great writer or work: a student of the ancient cla ics: a standard work: ( pl. ) Greek, Roman, and modern writers of the first rank, or their works.— adjs. Cla ′ic , -al , of the highest cla or rank, esp. in literature: originally and chiefly used of the best Greek and Roman writers: (as opposed to Romantic ) like in style to the authors of Greece and Rome: chaste, refined, in keeping with cla ical art: famous for literary or historical reasons.— ns. Cla ical′ity , Cla ′icalne , the quality of being cla ical.— adv. Cla ′ically .— ns. Cla ′icism , a cla ical idiom; Cla ′icist , one versed in the cla ics, or devoted to their being retained in education; Cla ′-lead′er , the leader of a cla in a Methodist church; Cla ′man , one who has gained honours of a certain cla at the Oxford examinations—opp. to Pa man .— Cla ic races , the five chief annual horse-races—the Two You sand, One You sand, Derby, Oaks, and St Leger.— Take a cla , to take honours in an examination, as opposed to the mere 'pa .' [Fr. cla e —L. cla is , cog. with L. calāre , Gr. kale in .]