Talk:class

Various definitions

I would not give the "best in its class" definition such weight. It's certainly not the same sense as used in the other example under the first definition. -dmh 11:05, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Also, the two school-related meetings should not be conflated. When I say "I'm taking classes at the University." I don't mean that I'm taking a group of students.

Most of the other changes look good. -dmh 12:36, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I want to know if anyone can add to this definition.

Maybe its too subtle for me but the word 'class' is used in the same sense in the phrases 'best in class' and 'whole class'. They have different meanings but the word means the same thing, a group etc. To me this (group etc.) is the fundamental meaning from which all the other definitions stem? Maybe the etymology will give some guidance? Again 'classes at university' is the same sense as 'cooking classes', isn't it? trunkie 15:07, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)]]

The definition group certainly appears to be basic. The difference between best in class and the general sense is that in best in its class it's understod from context just what the defining characteristics are. That is, when we say the Ford Fiesta is best in its class, we know that this refers to some particular sanctioned comparison (e.g., by Car and Driver magazine), while when I say there is a whole class of metaphorical extensions, the boundaries of the class are not well-defined. Someone has already said ahead of time which cars are in the Ford Fiesta's class. I'm specifically not saying which usages extend from class. This may be a fine distinction and may or may not be worth a separate definition, but it's there. The first definition, as currently written, introduces way too much bias for my taste toward the "explicitly defined and compared group" definition.

As to school senses, the two that are now conflated are

1. A group of students meeting for a session of learning. (The teacher told the class to be quiet)
2. The session itself (The class, normally consisting of dry lectures, was actually interesting today.)

This is a very ordinary metonymy, but I think we generally err on the side of calling out the metonomy explicitly. When I say History class today was boring. I'm referring to the class session, not to the students. Without the article, it's clearly the session. With the article, it's ambiguous: The history class today was boring. could mean, e.g., that the teacher droned on and on (like I'm doing here) or that, say, everyone just sat in their seats despite a very engaging lecture by the teacher. -dmh 15:57, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Also, we generally tend to call out more specialized senses, even when strictly speaking they're covered by the general sense, precisely because they carry extra information in context. In the car example, class implies that there has been a contest, or that someone has taken the trouble to do a careful comparison. A non-native speaker wouldn't know that. -dmh 16:11, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)

RFV debate

This entry has survived Wiktionary's verification process.

Please do not re-nominate for verification without comprehensive reasons for doing so.

---

"Best of its kind", with the example sentence "It is the class of Italian bottled waters". I can believe it, but I've never heard of it, and I'd like to see a citation from a proper work. Equinox ◑ 21:53, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

Cited, IMO. DCDuring TALK 23:00, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

Looks good. One of them says "class of the field", which almost looks like an expression in itself. Do you think it is? Equinox ◑ 00:21, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

Dunno. It might be, but in some moods I might be tempted to RfD it. Because we now have it on [[class]] in a quote, search for that term would bring a user to the right page. DCDuring TALK 00:34, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

Maybe. Bear in mind that everybody is too stupid to click a link after searching. We get enough Feedback entries saying "I CUD NUT FYND SINGY-LAR OV DIS PLOORUL". Equinox ◑ 03:33, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

Cited, so closing. Equinox ◑ 11:25, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

take a class

Chambers 1908 defines take a class as "to take honours in an examination, as opposed to the mere 'pass'". That is not, I think, the modern understanding of "taking a class", which would merely be choosing to do it. Equinox ◑ 21:06, 20 July 2019 (UTC)

I didn't find anything directly relevant at “class”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC..

At “take”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC. I was reminded of take honors (eg, in a class), but I found nothing else directly relevant. And that would be take + honors IMO. DCDuring (talk) 22:38, 20 July 2019 (UTC)

class in itself, class for itself

Something from Karl Marx. Equinox ◑ 16:49, 30 June 2021 (UTC)