noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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US:/ˌklæsɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -eɪʃən
CMU ARPABET:K L AE2 S AH0 F AH0 K EY1 SH AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The act of forming into a class or classes; a distribution into groups, as classes, orders, families, etc., according to some common relations or attributes.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
1997: Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault, page 69 (Totem Books, Icon Books; →ISBN I’m using mathesis — a universal science of measurement and order ... And there is also taxinomia a principle of 'classification' and ordered tabulation. Knowledge replaced universal resemblance with finite differences. History was arrested and turned into tables ... Western reason had entered the age of judgement.
a group of people or things arranged by class or category
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: categorization, categorisation
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: arrangement
Narrower terms: dichotomy, duality, trichotomy
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kelh1-der. Proto-Italic *klāssis Latin classislbor. French classe Proto-Indo-European *dheh1-der. Proto-Italic *θakos Proto-Italic *-fakos Latin -ficus Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh2yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h2tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin -ficōder. French -ifier French classifier Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin -ātiōlbor. Old French -ation Middle French -ation French -ation French classificationbor. English classification Borrowed from French classification.
Across languages
Translations
73 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
klassifikasie
— act of forming into classes
Arabic:
تَصْنِيف
(taṣnīf)
— act of forming into classes
Azerbaijani:
təsnifat
— act of forming into classes
Belarusian:
класіфіка́цыя
(klasifikácyja)
— act of forming into classes
Belarusian:
клясыфіка́цыя
(kljasyfikácyja)
— act of forming into classes
Bulgarian:
класифика́ция
(klasifikácija)
— act of forming into classes
Catalan:
classificació
— act of forming into classes
Chinese Mandarin:
分類 /分类
(fēnlèi)
— act of forming into classes
Czech:
klasifikace
— act of forming into classes
Dutch:
classificatie
— act of forming into classes
Esperanto:
klasado
— act of forming into classes
Extremaduran:
crasificación
— act of forming into classes
Finnish:
luokittelu
— act of forming into classes
French:
classification
— act of forming into classes
Galician:
clasificación
— act of forming into classes
Georgian:
კლასიფიკაცია
(ḳlasipiḳacia)
— act of forming into classes
German:
Klassifikation
— act of forming into classes
German:
Klassifizierung
— act of forming into classes
Greek:
ταξινόμηση
(taxinómisi)
— act of forming into classes
Greek:
κατάταξη
(katátaxi)
— act of forming into classes
Hungarian:
osztályozás
— act of forming into classes
Hungarian:
besorolás
— act of forming into classes
Hungarian:
beosztás
— act of forming into classes
Hungarian:
minősítés
— act of forming into classes
Hungarian:
meghatározás
— act of forming into classes
Hungarian:
klasszifikáció
— act of forming into classes
Indonesian:
klasifikasi
— act of forming into classes
Irish:
aicmiú
— act of forming into classes
Italian:
classificazione
— act of forming into classes
Japanese:
分類
(bunrui)
— act of forming into classes
Kashmiri:
پرٛاگ
(prāg)
— act of forming into classes
Kashmiri:
وَرگہٕ بَنٛدی
(vargụ bandī)
— act of forming into classes
Kazakh:
жіктеме
(jıkteme)
— act of forming into classes
Kazakh:
сыныптама
(synyptama)
— act of forming into classes
Korean:
분류
(bullyu)
— act of forming into classes
Latin:
classificatio
— act of forming into classes
Latin:
descriptio
— act of forming into classes
Latvian:
klasifikācija
— act of forming into classes
Lithuanian:
klasifikacija
— act of forming into classes
Macedonian:
класификација
(klasifikacija)
— act of forming into classes
Malay:
pengelasan
— act of forming into classes
Malayalam:
വർഗ്ഗീകരണം
(vaṟggīkaraṇaṁ)
— act of forming into classes
Māori:
whakarōpūtanga
— act of forming into classes
Māori:
kōmakahanga
— act of forming into classes
Marathi:
वर्गीकरण
(vargīkraṇ)
— act of forming into classes
Norwegian Bokmål:
klassifikasjon
— act of forming into classes
Norwegian Bokmål:
inndeling
— act of forming into classes
Norwegian Nynorsk:
klassifikasjon
— act of forming into classes
Norwegian Nynorsk:
inndeling
— act of forming into classes
Persian:
ردهبندی
(rade-bandi)
— act of forming into classes
Polish:
klasyfikacja
— act of forming into classes
Portuguese:
classificação
— act of forming into classes
Punjabi:
ਵਰਗੀਕਰਨ
(vargīkaran)
— act of forming into classes
Romanian:
clasificare
— act of forming into classes
Romanian:
clasificație
— act of forming into classes
Russian:
классифика́ция
(klassifikácija)
— act of forming into classes
Russian:
классифици́рование
(klassificírovanije)
— act of forming into classes
Serbo-Croatian:
класификација
— act of forming into classes
Serbo-Croatian:
разредба
— act of forming into classes
Serbo-Croatian:
klasifikacija
— act of forming into classes
Serbo-Croatian:
razredba
— act of forming into classes
Sikkimese:
ཁོངས་རྷོགས
(khongs rhogs)
— act of forming into classes
Slovak:
klasifikácia
— act of forming into classes
Slovene:
klasifikacija
— act of forming into classes
Spanish:
clasificación
— act of forming into classes
Swahili:
uainishaji
— act of forming into classes
Swedish:
klassifikation
— act of forming into classes
Swedish:
klassificering
— act of forming into classes
Tagalog:
palaurian
— act of forming into classes
Turkish:
sınıflandırma
— act of forming into classes
Ukrainian:
класифіка́ція
(klasyfikácija)
— act of forming into classes
Vietnamese:
sự phân loại
— act of forming into classes