category

UK: /ˈkætɪgri/ US: /ˈkætɪˌgɔri/ ,(kat′i gôr′ē, -gōr′ē)

Inflections of 'category' (n): npl: categories

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

cat•e•go•ry /ˈkætɪˌgɔri/   n. [countable] , pl. -ries. 

1. any group or division in a system of classification:
   several categories of students: part-time, full-time, degree, and nondegree.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

cat•e•go•ry  (kat′i gôr′ē, -gōr′ē), n., pl. -ries. 

1. any general or comprehensive division;
   a class.
2. a classificatory division in any field of knowledge, as a phylum or any of its subdivisions in biology.
3. Philosophy [Metaphys.]
   • (in Aristotelian philosophy) any of the fundamental modes of existence, such as substance, quality, and quantity, as determined by analysis of the different possible kinds of predication.
   • (in Kantian philosophy) any of the fundamental principles of the understanding, as the principle of causation.
   • any classification of terms that is ultimate and not susceptible to further analysis.
4. Games categories. Also called Guggenheim. (used with a sing. v.) a game in which a key word and a list of categories, as dogs, automobiles, or rivers, are selected, and in which each player writes down a word in each category that begins with each of the letters of the key word, the player writing down the most words within a time limit being declared the winner.
5. Mathematics a type of mathematical object, as a set, group, or metric space, together with a set of mappings from such an object to other objects of the same type.
6. Grammar See part of speech. 

• Greek katēgoría accusation (also, kind of predication), equivalent. to katé̄gor(os) accuser, affirmer (katēgor(eîn) to accuse, affirm, literally, speak publicly against, equivalent. to kata- cata- + -agoreîn to speak before the agora + -os noun, nominal suffix) + -ia -y³
• Late Latin catēgoria
• 1580–90

Synonyms

• 1. group, grouping, type.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

category / ˈkætɪɡərɪ/ noun ( -ries)

1. a class or group of things, people, etc, possessing some quality or qualities in common; a division in a system of classification
2. any one of the most basic classes into which objects and concepts can be analysed
3. (in the philosophy of Aristotle) any one of ten most fundamental modes of being, such as quantity, quality, and substance
4. (in the philosophy of Kant) one of twelve concepts required by human beings to interpret the empirical world

Etymology: 15th Century: from Late Latin catēgoria, from Greek katēgoria, from katēgorein to accuse, assert