Classical

How to spell classical

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce classical

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does classical mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to ancient Greek or Roman culture, or to traditional forms and standards regarded as long-established and authoritative.

Classical in a sentence

• She studied classical literature, focusing on Homer and Virgil.

• The orchestra performed a programme of classical music by Mozart and Beethoven.

Where does classical come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin classicus, meaning 'belonging to a class' and especially 'belonging to the highest class of citizen', which in turn came from classis, a word describing a division or rank of the Roman people. Because the top class was regarded as the best, classicus came to suggest 'of the first rank' or 'of the highest quality', and Renaissance scholars applied it to the most admired writers of ancient Greece and Rome. English took the form 'classic' from French and Latin in the late 1500s, and the longer adjective 'classical' followed soon after to describe anything relating to that revered ancient world or to its standards of form and proportion. The spelling keeps the double pattern of -ic plus -al, and the trap for writers is remembering that 'classic' already ends in c before the -al is added, giving classical rather than any single-letter alternative. The same classis root also gave English the everyday word 'class' itself.

How the word is built

• class- (from Latin classis: a division or rank)
• -ic (relating to)
• -al (adjective suffix)