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clas·si·cal (klăsĭ-kəl)
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adj.
1.
a. Of or relating to the ancient Greeks and Romans, especially their art, architecture, and literature.
b. Conforming to the artistic and literary models of ancient Greece and Rome.
c. Versed in the classics: a classical scholar.
2. Music
a. Of or relating to European music during the latter half of the 18th and the early 19th centuries.
b. Of or relating to music in the educated European tradition, such as symphony and opera, as opposed to popular or folk music.
3. Of, relating to, or being a variety of a language that is epitomized by a prestigious body of literature.
4.
a. Standard and traditional: classical methods of navigation.
b. Relating to or being a school of thought or field of study that is established and widely accepted before others: classical economics.
5. Of or relating to physics that can be described without the use of quantum mechanics or relativity.
6. Relating to or consisting of studies in the humanities and general sciences: a classical curriculum.
clas′si·cali·ty (-kălĭ-tē), classi·cal·ness n.
classi·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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