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Definition: Class |
ClassNoun1. People having the same social or economic status; "the working class"; "an emerging professional class". 2. A body of students who are taught together; "early morning classes are always sleepy". 3. Education imparted in a series of lessons or class meetings; "he took a course in basket weaving"; "flirting is not unknown in college classes". 4. A collection of things sharing a common attribute; "there are two classes of detergents". 5. A body of students who graduate together: "the class of '97"; "she was in my year at Hoehandle High". 6. A league ranked by quality; "he played baseball in class D for two years"; "Princeton is in the NCAA Division 1-AA". 7. (informal) elegance in dress or behavior; "she has a lot of class". 8. (biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more orders. Verb1. Arrange or order by classes or categories; "How would you classify these pottery shards--are they prehistoric?". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "class" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references) |
Etymology: Class \Class\ (kl[.a]s), noun. [French classe, from Latin classis class, collection, fleet; akin to Greek klh^sis a calling, kalei^n to call, English claim, haul.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Computing | Class 1. |
Diversity | Category of division based on economic status; members of a class are theoretically assumed to possess similar cultural, political and economic characteristics and principles. (references) |
Finance | All options of the same type pertaining to the same underlying security. Source: European Union. (references) |
Law | The character assigned to a vessel by a classification society, depending on the design, the quality of materials, the outfit. Source: European Union. (references) |
Mathematics | For a qualitative characteristic, appropriately defined groups of items, each group having some common attributes, the groups being mutually exclusive and exhaustive. Source: European Union. (references) |
Mining | A division of igneous rocks based on the relative proportions of the salic (siliceous and aluminous minerals, quartz, feldspars, and feldspathoids) and femic (ferromagnesian minerals, pyroxene, amphibole, etc.) standardnormative minerals as calculated from chemical analyses. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The Casablanca class of escort aircraft carriers was the largest class of this type ever built. 50 of these were laid down, launched and commissioned within the space of a year, 1943 and 1944.They were built by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company in Vancouver, Washington on the Columbia River.
The hull numbers are consecutive, from CVE-55 (Casablanca) to CVE-104 (Munda).
(need general characteristics here)
By hull number
- (CVE-55) Casablanca
- (CVE-56) Liscome Bay
- (CVE-57) Coral Sea
- (CVE-58) Corregidor
- (CVE-59) Mission Bay
- (CVE-60) Guadalcanal
- (CVE-61) Manila Bay
- (CVE-62) Natoma Bay
- (CVE-63) St. Lo
- (CVE-64) Tripoli
- (CVE-65) Wake Island
- (CVE-66) White Plains
- (CVE-67) Solomons
- (CVE-68) Kalinin Bay
- (CVE-69) Kasaan Bay
- (CVE-70) Fanshaw Bay
- (CVE-71) Kitkun Bay
- (CVE-72) Tulagi
- (CVE-73) Gambier Bay
- (CVE-74) Nehenta Bay
- (CVE-75) Hoggatt Bay
- (CVE-76) Kadasahan Bay
- (CVE-77) Marcus Island
- (CVE-78) Savo Island
- (CVE-79) Ommaney Bay
- (CVE-80) Petrof Bay
- (CVE-81) Rudyerd Bay
- (CVE-82) Saginaw Bay
- (CVE-83) Sargent Bay
- (CVE-84) Shamrock Bay
- (CVE-85) Shipley Bay
- (CVE-86) Sitkoh Bay
- (CVE-87) Steamer Bay
- (CVE-88) Cape Esperance
- (CVE-89) Takanis Bay
- (CVE-90) Thetis Bay
- (CVE-91) Makassar Strait
- (CVE-92) Windham Bay
- (CVE-93) Makin Island
- (CVE-94) Lunga Point
- (CVE-95) Bismarck Sea
- (CVE-96) Salamaua
- (CVE-97) Hollandia
- (CVE-98) Kwajalein
- (CVE-99) Admiralty Islands
- (CVE-100) Bougainville
- (CVE-101) Matanikau
- (CVE-102) Attu
- (CVE-103) Roi
- (CVE-104) Munda
By name
- Admiralty Islands (CVE-99)
- Attu (CVE-102)
- Bismarck Sea (CVE-95)
- Bougainville (CVE-100)
- Cape Esperance (CVE-88)
- Casablanca (CVE-55)
- Coral Sea (CVE-57)
- Corregidor (CVE-58)
- Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70)
- Gambier Bay (CVE-73)
- Guadalcanal (CVE-60)
- Hoggatt Bay (CVE-75)
- Hollandia (CVE-97)
- Kadasahan Bay (CVE-76)
- Kalinin Bay (CVE-68)
- Kasaan Bay (CVE-69)
- Kitkun Bay (CVE-71)
- Kwajalein (CVE-98)
- Liscome Bay (CVE-56)
- Lunga Point (CVE-94)
- Makassar Strait (CVE-91)
- Makin Island (CVE-93)
- Manila Bay (CVE-61)
- Marcus Island (CVE-77)
- Matanikau (CVE-101)
- Mission Bay (CVE-59)
- Munda (CVE-104)
- Natoma Bay (CVE-62)
- Nehenta Bay (CVE-74)
- Ommaney Bay (CVE-79)
- Petrof Bay (CVE-80)
- Roi (CVE-103)
- Rudyerd Bay (CVE-81)
- Saginaw Bay (CVE-82)
- St. Lo (CVE-63)
- Salamaua (CVE-96)
- Sargent Bay (CVE-83)
- Savo Island (CVE-78)
- Shamrock Bay (CVE-84)
- Shipley Bay (CVE-85)
- Sitkoh Bay (CVE-86)
- Solomons (CVE-67)
- Steamer Bay (CVE-87)
- Takanis Bay (CVE-89)
- Thetis Bay (CVE-90)
- Tripoli (CVE-64)
- Tulagi (CVE-72)
- Wake Island (CVE-65)
- White Plains (CVE-66)
- Windham Bay (CVE-92)
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Casablanca class carrier."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The term "class", when used by itself, has several meanings in English.
- In sociology and economics, see social class.
- In computer science, concerning classes in the object-oriented implementation of computer applications, see class (computer science).
- In mathematical set theory, for classes as sets or sets of sets, see class (set theory).
- In biology, for classes as subdivisions used in Linnaean taxonomy: see class (biology).
- In various contexts where people (or individuals of any kind) are at any time in different stages of the same general process, and all of those in the same stage are considered to constitute a class, see:
- the topic of class of students at specific colleges, universities, and other schools.
- classes of US Senators
- In sea warfare, where individual vessels of a class of naval watercraft share essentially the same design, see navy or, under an article for a specific country, the topic of its navy.
- In popular culture, see Class (movie).
- In philosophy, for a distinction between classes and types, see class (philosophy).
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Class."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In object-oriented programming, a class consists of encapsulated instance variables and subprograms. Classes describe the rules by which objects behave; those objects, described by a particular class, are known as "instances" of said class. A class specifies the data which each instance contains; as well as the methods (functions) which the object can perform; such methods are sometimes described as "behavior".
Classes are sometimes described as "blueprints"; instances, of a class, will have certain aspects in common. One might describe a "class of animals" (dogs), or a "class of tangible objects" (computers). One of the benefits, of programming with classes, is that all instances of a particular class will follow the defined behaviour of said class. For example: if humans are a class; then each person is an instance of an object of the human class. Each person is generally alike; but varies in such properties as "height" and "weight". The class would list such instance variables; and also define, via subprograms, the actions which humans can perform: "marriage", sleeping, "tonsillectomy", etc.
Subclasses and Superclasses
Classes are often related in some way. The most popular of these relations is inheritance, which involves subclasses and superclasses, also known respectively as child classes (or derived classes) and parent classes (or base classes). If [car] was a class, then [Jaguar] and [Porsche] might be two sub-classes. If [Button] is a subclass of [Control], then all buttons are controls.
Some programming languages (for example C++) allow multiple inheritance - they allow a child class to have more than one parent class. This technique has been criticized by some for its unnecessary complexity and being hard to implement efficiently, though some projects have undoubtedly benefited from its use. Java, for example has no multiple inheritance, its designers feeling that this would be more trouble than it was worth.
Sub- and superclasses are considered to exist within a hierarchy.
Reasons for Implementing Classes
Classes, when used properly, can accelerate development by reducing redundant code entry, testing and bug fixing. If a class has been thoroughly tested and is known to be a solid work, it stands to reason that implementing that class or extending it will reduce if not eliminate the possibility of bugs propagating into the code. In the case of extension new code is being added so it also requires the same level of testing before it can be considered solid.
Another reason for using classes is to simplify the relationships of interrelated data. A car, for instance, has many components. These components in turn are based on other smaller components. The car has an engine and it has gears for example. To try to capture the essence of a car by describing its 1000s of individual parts would take much time and effort. Instead, by encapsulating each part by its purpose or its placement in the car we can simplify the coding of a car. We would create a gear class and an engine class and finally a car class. Each would embed information about parts internal to itself and would manage this implicitly for us. This abstraction allows developers to concentrate on the task at hand and not the internals of every problem.
Types of classes
An abstract class is one that is designed only as a parent class and from which child classes may be derived, and which is not itself suitable for instantiation. Abstract classes are often used to represent abstract concepts or entities. The incomplete features of the abstract class are then shared by a group of sibling sub-classes which add different variations of the missing pieces.
Abstract classes are superclasses which contain abstract methods and are defined such that subclasses are to extend them by implementing the methodss. The behaviors defined by such a class are "generic" and much of the class will be undefined and unimplemented. Before a class derived from an abstract class can be instantiated, it must implement particular methods for all the abstract methods of its parent classes.
Object-Based Programming
Some languages have objects, but no classes; In such "object-based languages", objects are not restricted to class structure.
C++ Examples
The first example shows how to define a C++ class; the example has no date, and performs no functions. It only contains the comment, "this is a class". The second example is of a somewhat more complex class definition.
Example 1
class example {// this is a class};
Example 2
using std::string;
- include
class InetMessage {
string m_subject, m_to, m_from;public:
InetMessage (const string& subject,const string& to, const string& from);string subject () const; string to () const; string from () const;};
See also
class, hierarchySource: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Class (computer science)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Class is a film released in 1983, starring Andrew McCarthy and Rob Lowe.Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Class (movie)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Classes vs. types
Philosophers sometimes distinguish classes from types and kinds. We can talk about the class of human beings, just as we can talk about the type (or natural kind), human being, or humanity. How, then, might classes differ from types? One might well think they are not actually different categories of being, but typically, while both are treated as abstract objects, classes are not usually treated as universals, whereas types usually are. Whether natural kinds ought to be considered universals is vexed; see natural kind.
There is, in any case, a difference in how we talk about types and kinds versus how we talk about classes. We say that Socrates is a token of a type, or an instance of the natural kind, human being. But notice that we say instead that Socrates is a member of the class of human beings. We would not say that Socrates is a "member" of the type or kind, human beings. He is a token (instance) of the type (kind). So the linguistic difference is: types (or kinds) have tokens (or instances); classes, on the other hand, have members.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Class (philosophy)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In set theory and its applications throughout mathematics, a class is a collection of sets (or sometimes other mathematical objects) that can be unambiguously defined by a property that all its members share. Some classes are sets, for instance the class of all integers that are even, but others are not, for instance the class of all ordinal numbers or the class of all sets. Classes that are not sets are called proper classes.A proper class cannot be an element of a set or a class and is not subject to the Zermelo-Fraenkel axioms of set theory; thereby a number of paradoxes of naive set theory are avoided. Instead, these paradoxes become proofss that a certain class is proper. For example, Russell's paradox becomes a proof that the class of all sets is proper, and the Burali-Forti paradox becomes a proof that the class of all ordinal numbers is proper.
The standard Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory axioms do not talk about classes; classes exist only in the metalanguage as equivalence classes of logical formulas. Another approach is taken by the von Neumann-Bernays-Gödel axioms; classes are the basic objects in this theory, and a set is then defined to be a class that is an element of some other class. The proper classes, then, are those classes that are not elements of any other class.
Several objects in mathematics are too big for sets and need to be described with classes, for instance large categories or the class-field of surreal numbers.
The word "class" is sometimes used synonymously with "set", most notably in the term "equivalence class". This usage dates from a historical period where classes and sets were not distinguished as they are in modern terminology. Many discussions of "classes" in the 19th century and earlier are really referring to sets, or perhaps to a more ambiguous concept.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Class (set theory)."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Classful networking is the original method of determining whether an IP address belongs in the same IP network as another IP address.It is also for establishing the host address size for any given IP address. The address mask, which is so commonly associated with an IP address today, was not required as the mask length was purely a function of the IP address. Any network device could inspect the first few bits of the 32 bit IP address to see which class it belonged to.
Class
start
end
first bits
Mask (in dotted decimal)
Class A
1.0.0.0
126.0.0.0
0
255.0.0.0
Class B
128.0.0.0
191.255.0.0
10
255.255.0.0
Class C
192.0.0.0
223.255.255.0
110
255.255.255.0
Class D (multicast)
224.0.0.0
239.255.255.255
1111
n/a
Class F (experimental)
n/a
The 127.0.0.0 network is reserved for loopback addresses.
Early allocations of IP addresses by IANA were in some cases not made very efficiently. This resulted with some organisations receiving class A networks which has contributed to the IP address shortage.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Classful network."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The New Orleans class of heavy cruisers was the last US Navy class of multiple cruisers to be built before World War II, all first commissioned between 1934 and 1937. Three of the seven members were lost in the Battle of Savo Island in 1942.
- New Orleans (CL/CA-32)
- Astoria (CA-34)
- Minneapolis (CA-36)
- Tuscaloosa (CA-37)
- San Francisco (CA-38)
- Quincy (CA-39)
- Vincennes (CA-44)
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "New Orleans class cruiser."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers are the largest warships in the world. USS Nimitz (CVN 68) was the first to undergo its initial refueling during a 33-month Refueling Complex Overhaul at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, in 1998.Nimitz, the lead ship of the class, was commissioned in 1975; Bush, the tenth and last of the class, will be built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems and will enter service in 2008. Bush will be the first transition ship to a new class of carriers (CVNX) to start construction in 2007 and will incorporate new technologies including a new multi-function radar system, volume search radar and open architecture information network, and a significantly reduced crew requirement.
General characteristics
- Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding Company, Newport News, Virginia
- Power Plant: Two A4W reactors, four shafts
- Length: 333 meters (1092 feet) overall
- Flight Deck Width: 76.8 meters (252 feet)
- Beam: 41 meters (134 feet)
- Displacement: 98,500 tons full load
- Speed: 30+ knots -- in June 1999, the USN publicly released these trial speeds:
- Nimitz: 31.5 knots
- Theodore Roosevelt: 31.3 knots
- Harry S Truman: 30.9 knots
- Aircraft: 85
- Intended to operate fighter aircraft including the F/A-18, bombers and other military aircraft for many missions including self defense, land attack and maritime strike.
- Cost: about US$4.5 billion each
- Crew: Ship's Company: 3,200 - Air Wing: 2,480
- Armament:
- NATO Sea Sparrow launchers: two or three (depending on modification)
- 20mm Phalanx CIWS mounts: three on Nimitz and Dwight D. Eisenhower and four on Vinson and later ships of the class
- Date Deployed: May 3, 1975 (USS Nimitz)
Ships
- USS Nimitz (CVN 68), San Diego, California
- USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), Newport News, Virginia
- USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Bremerton, Washington
- USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), Norfolk, Virginia
- USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), Everett, Washington
- USS George Washington (CVN 73), Norfolk, Virginia
- USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), San Diego, California
- USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), Norfolk, Virginia
- USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), San Diego, California
- George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) (under construction)
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Nimitz class aircraft carrier."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Scientific classification refers to how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. Modern classification has its roots in the system of Carl Linnaeus, who grouped species according to shared physical characteristics. These groupings have been revised since Linnaeus to improve consistency with the Darwinian principle of common descent. Genomic DNA analysis has driven many recent revisions and is likely to continue to do so. Scientific classification belongs to the science of taxonomy or biological systematics.
Early Systems
The earliest known system of classifying forms of life comes from the Greek philosopher Aristotle.
The next major advance in developing scientific classification was by the Swiss professor, Conrad Gessner (1516 - 1565). Gessner's work was a critical compilation of life known at the time.
The exploration of parts of the New World next brought to hand descriptions and specimens of many novel forms of animal life. In the latter part of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th careful study of animals commenced, which, directed first to familiar kinds, was gradually extended until it formed a sufficient body of knowledge to serve as an anatomical basis for classification. Advances in using this knowledge to classify living beings bears a debt to the research of medical anatomists, such as Fabricius (1537 - 1619), Severinus (1580 - 1656), William Harvey (1578 - 1657), and Tyson (1649 - 1708). Advances in classification due to the work of entomologists and the first microscopists is due to the research of people like Marcello Malpighi (1628 - 1694), Jan Swammerdam (1637 - 1680), and Robert Hooke (1635 - 1702).
John Ray (1627 - 1705) was an English naturalist who published important works on plants, animals, and natural theology. His classification of plants in his Historia Plantarum was an important step towards modern taxonomy. Ray rejected the system of dichotomous division by which species were classified according to a pre-conceived, either/or type system, and instead classified plants according to similarities and differences that emerged from observation.
Linnaean taxonomy
Two years after John Ray's death Carolus Linnaeus (1707 - 1778) was born. His great work, the Systema Naturae, ran through twelve editions during his lifetime (1st ed. 1735). He is best known for his introduction of a method of modern classification; he created systematic zoology and botany in their present form. Linnaeus adopted Ray's conception of species, but he made the concept a practical reality by insisting that every species must have a unique Latin binomen, that is, a double name - the first half to be the name of the genus common to several species, and the second half to be a single word, which is called the specific epithet. This convention is now referred to as binomial nomenclature, and the name formed from the two parts is known as the scientific name of a species.
Before Linnaeus, long many-worded names had been used, sometimes with one additional adjective, sometimes with another, so that no true names were fixed and accepted. Linnaeus' system made it easy to identify unambiguously any given species of plant or animal. He proceeded further to introduce into his system a series of groups: genus, order, class.
The Linnaeus System works by placing each organism into a layered hierarchy of groups. Each group at a given layer is composed of a set of groups from the layer directly below. Simply knowing the two-part scientific name makes it possible to determine the other six layers.
The groupings (taxa) of taxonomy from most general to most specific are:
Several acronym mnemonics have been made for these, for instance King Phillip called out for good soup, or Kings Play Chess On Funny Green Squares.
- Kingdom
- Phylum (animals) or Division (plants)
- Class
- Order
- Family
- Genus
- Species
Intermediate ranks may be created by adding prefixes, for instance:
In addition, species are often subdivided into subspecies and other infraspecific categories (see subspecies). The term varieties is sometimes used in place of subspecies. In horticulture, for example, it refers to populations modified by selective breeding, for instance the Peace Rose, a hybrid Tea Rose.
- Superorder
- Order
- Suborder
- Infraorder
In husbandry, horticulture and other activities outside scientific biology, people still assume the truth of the traditional Linnaean system.
Modern developments
The approach Linnaeus took to classifying species and the majority of his taxonomic groupings remained the standard in biology for at least two centuries. Since the 1960s, however, a trend called cladism or cladistic taxonomy, has emerged and is expected to supplant Linnaean classification. In classifying species, cladists place a priority in achieving coherence with the Darwinian principle of common descent.
Meanwhile, at the top of the hierarchy of classification, there has movement towards a three domain system. The domains originally were replacements for the different kingdoms, but many scientists regard them as a groupings above the formerly paramount kingdom level.
Cladistics
In grouping species, cladists look for "derived similarities," meaning those aspects that species can be expected to share by virtue of a common evolutionary ancestry. This approach differs from that of phenetics, which does not address ancestry and associates species based on overall similarity, and it differs also from classification based on ad hoc "key characters." Cladists avail themselves of all types of information available, including DNA sequences and hybridization studies, biochemistry, and traditional morphology. They often make use of computers to identify the most likely phylogeny or "family tree" that relates the species they are considering.
Cladistics requires taxa (groups of species) to be clades. A formal code of phylogenetic nomenclature, the Phylocode[1], is currently under development for a cladistic taxonomy that abandons the Linnaean structure.
More at: cladistics.
Could add a description of the difficulty in classifying microbes: their features are derived from direct visual observation, but include such procedural characteristics as Gram stain type, motility, ability to form spores, etc. However, given an unknown bacterium with a given set of characteristics, it is in general not possible to predict its phylogeny, toxicity, etc. Other methods, using genes, their DNA, and several types of RNA, are under development.
Kingdom Animalia Phylum Arthropoda Class Insecta Order Diptera Family Drosophilidae Genus Drosophila Species melanogaster
Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Subphylum Vertebrata Class Mammalia Subclass Eutheria Order Primates Suborder Catarrhini Family Hominidae Genus Homo Species sapiens
Cucumbertree (Magnolia acuminata)
Kingdom Plantae Division Magnoliophyta Class Magnoliopsida Order Magnoliales Family Magnoliaceae Genus Magnolia Species acuminata Note in this last example, that most of the taxa are named after the type genus, Magnolia.
Taxon Plants Algae Fungi Animals Division/Phylum -phyta -phyta -mycota Subdivision/Subphylum -phytina -phytina -mycotina Class -opsida -phyceae -mycetes Subclass -idae -phycidae -mycetidae Order -ales -ales -ales Suborder -ineae -ineae -ineae Superfamily -acea -acea -acea -oidea Family -aceae -aceae -aceae -idae Subfamily -oideae -oideae -oideae -inae Tribe -eae -eae -eae -ini Subtribe -inae -inae -inae -ina
See also:
- Binomial nomenclature
- Taxonomy
- List of biological orders
- List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names
- Phylogenetic tree
External Links:
- Classification of Animals
- Phylocode - replacing older system with Cladistic system
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Scientific classification."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A social class is a group of people that have similar social and economic status.
At various times the division of society into classes has had various levels of support in law. At one extreme we find old Indian classes - castes, which one could neither enter after birth, nor leave. (Though this applied only in relatively recent history.) On the other extreme there exist classes in modern Western societies which appear very fluid and have little support in law. When sociologistss speak of "class" they usually mean economically based classes in modern or near pre-modern society.
In Marxist terms a class is a group of people with a specific relationship to the means of production (social production). Marxists explain history in terms of a war of classes between those who control social production and those who produce social goods. In the Marxist view of capitalism this is a conflict between capitalists (bourgeoisie) and workers (proletariat).
Modern usage of the word "class" generally considers only the relative wealth of individuals or social groups, and not the ownership of the means of production.
The sociologist Max Weber formulated a three-component theory of stratification, with class, status and party (or politics) as conceptually distinct elements.
All three dimensions have consequences for what Weber called "life chances".
- Class is based on relationship to the market (owner, rentier, employee etc.)
- Status has to do with honour and prestige
- Party refers to factors having to do with affiliations in the political domain.
See also:
The concept of "caste" differs from that of "class", and refers to rigid status groupings, the membership of which is usually inherited. Particular caste groups include:
- proletariat, bourgeoisie, working class, middle class, intelligentsia
- politics, sociology
- Class warfare
For other meanings of the word class, see Class.
- the Burakumin of Japan
- the Dalits ("untouchables") of India
Further reading
- Consumer's Republic, Lizabeth Cohen, Knopf, 2003, hardcover, 576 pages, ISBN 0375407502 (An analysis of the working out of class in the United States)
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Social class."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
General characteristics of the Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship:
- Builders: Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss.
- Power Plant: Two boilers, two geared steam turbines, two shafts, 70,000 total shaft horsepower
- Length: 820 feet (249.9 meters)
- Beam: 106 feet (31.8 meters)
- Displacement: 39,400 tons (40,032 metric tons) full load
- Speed: 24 knots (27.6 miles per hour)
- Aircraft: (Actual mix depends upon mission)
- Nine CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters
- Twelve CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters
- Six AV-8B Harrier attack planes
- Ships:
- USS Tarawa (LHA-1), San Diego, California
- USS Saipan (LHA-2), Norfolk, Virginia
- USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3), San Diego, California
- USS Nassau (LHA-4), Norfolk, Virginia
- USS Peleliu (LHA-5), San Diego, California
- Crew:
- Ships Company: 82 officers, 882 enlisted
- Marine Detachment 1,900 plus
- Armament: Two RAM launchers; two 5 inch/54 cal. MK-45 lightweight guns; two Phalanx 20 mm CIWS mount; four .50 cal. machine guns; four 25 mm Mk 38 machine guns
- Date Deployed: May 29, 1976 (Tarawa)
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Tarawa class amphibious assault ship."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The Victoria class consists of four diesel-powered Royal Canadian Navy submarines acquired from the Royal Navy (formerly known as the Upholder class) and replacing the old Oberon-class subs. The boats are named after Canadian port cities:
Victoria operates out of Esquimalt, British Columbia and works in the Pacific Ocean, while the remaining boats are based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and work in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.
- HMCS Victoria (formerly the HMS Unseen)
- HMCS Windsor (formerly the HMS Unicorn)
- HMCS Corner Brook (formerly the HMS Ursula)
- HMCS Chicoutimi (formerly the HMS Upholder).
The boats were originally built by the UK, but saw only brief service before being mothballed in favour of an all nuclear force. They are essentially identical to modern nuclear submarines (with the distinctive nuclear shape and sonar-deflecting tiles) but run on diesel engines instead of nuclear reactors (which limits their range, but conversely makes them quieter and more manoeuvrable). It is foreseen that with the maturity of fuel cell technology the ships will be converted over to that power system, which could allow them to operate at sea almost indefinitely without the problems, real and perceived, of nuclear power.
Statistics
- Displacement: 2,400 tons submerged
- Dimensions: 70.26 m x 7.6 m x 5.5 m
- Propulsion: Diesel-electric, 2 diesels, 1 shaft, 20 knots
- Crew: approx. 44
- Sonar: Type 2040 bow, Type 2041 flank, unknown towed array
- Fire Control: unknown
- EW: Decca Porpoise intercept
- Armament: 6 21 inch torpedo tubes (18 Mk48 torpedoes)
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Victoria class submarine."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
CLASS | English | Computer Based Laboratory for Automated School Systems | Computing, Education |
| CLIP | English | Class II-associated invariant chain peptide | Medicine |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: ClassSynonyms: category (n), course (n), course of instruction (n), course of study (n), division (n), family (n), form (n), grade (n), social class (n), socio-economic class (n), year (n), assort (v), classify (v), separate (v), sort (v), sort out (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Arrangement | Class, classify; divide; file, string together, thread; register; (record); catalogue, tabulate, index, graduate, digest, grade. |
Class | Noun: class, division, category, categorema, head, order, section; department, subdepartment, province, domain. |
Adjective: included, including; Verb: inclusive; congener, congenerous; of the same class; encircling. | |
Composition | Include; (in a class); contain, hold, comprehend, take in, admit, embrace, embody; involve, implicate; drag into. |
Learner | Class, grade, seminar, form, remove; pupilage; (learning). |
School | Noun: school, academy, university, alma mater, college, seminary, Lyceum; institution; palaestra, Gymnasium, class, seminar. |
Day school, boarding school, preparatory school, primary school, infant school, dame's school, grammar school, middle class school, Board school, denominational school, National school, British and Foreign school, collegiate school, art school, continuation school, convent school, County Council school, government school, grant-in-aid school, high school, higher grade school, military school, missionary school, naval school, naval academy, state-aided school, technical school, voluntary school, school; school of art; kindergarten, nursery, creche, reformatory. | |
Vehicle | Train; accommodation train, passenger train, express trail, special train, corridor train, parliamentary train, luggage train, freight train, goods train; st class train, nd class train, rd class train, st class carriage, nd class carriage, rd class carriage, st class compartment, nd class compartment, rd class compartment; rolling stock; horse box, cattle truck; baggage car, express car, freight car, parlor car, dining car, Pullman car, sleeping car, sleeper, dome car; surface car, tram car, trolley car; box car, box wagon; horse car; bullet train, shinkansen, cannonball, the Wabash cannonball, lightning express; luggage van; mail, mail car, mail van. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Hey Leo, now that you're famous you'll get a lot more sex than anyone in your class. (Deep Impact; writing credit: Bruce Joel Rubin; Michael Tolkin) I could have had class. I could have been a contender (On the Waterfront; writing credit: Budd Schulberg.) If I didn't know you better, I'd swear you had some class! (The Sting; writing credit: David S. Ward) I see them in my Home Economics class all the time (Forrest Gump; writing credit: Eric Roth) Oh there you go, bringing class into it again (Monty Python and the Holy Grail; writing credit: Graham Chapman; John Cleese) | |
Lyrics | Teaching a class full of innocent children (Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning); performing artist: Alan Jackson) Well we got no class (School's Out; performing artist: Alice Cooper) You get in a crowd of high class people and then you act real rude to me (Use Me; performing artist: Bill Withers) She's getting tired of her high class toys (Uptown Girl; performing artist: Billy Joel) Flying first class from New York City to Blackstreet (No Diggity; performing artist: Blackstreet) | |
Clever | It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress. (references; author: Mark Twain) Adult Education Topic: Learning to live: Basic differences between your mother and your wife. Online class and role playing. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Ruling Class (2001) Class of '74 (1974) A Touch of Class (1973) Tales of a High Class Hooker (1972) The Ruling Class (1972) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books |
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Periodicals | |||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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High Tech |
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Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
Ticks are of the class Arachnida, as are spiders and mites. D. variabilis is a known carrier of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever caused by the bacterium Rickettsia rickettsii. Credit: CDC. | Foreign public health trainees of class of 1952. Credit: CDC. | ||
Most galaxies form new stars at a fairly slow rate, but members of a rare class known as ... Credit: NASA. | NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has revealed a new class of object in the universe -- a ... Credit: NASA. | ||
![]() | Commander Maurice A. Hecht at left - first instructor for radar ranging class Observation battalion training in use of radar to determine enemy gun location. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. | ![]() | Officers' Sound and Flash Ranging Class No. 16 #9- Harry D. Reed; #11 - Charley Schanck; #12 C. M. Shinn. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |
![]() | Class B pair of horseshoe crabs. Credit: America's Coastlines. | ![]() | A Class B pair of horseshoe crabs spawning in the shallows at Flag Ponds Nature Park, a unit of Montgomery County, Maryland, public schools. Credit: America's Coastlines. |
![]() | Fishing knows no class distinctions. A Rolls Royce towing a boat trailer for a day's fishing. Credit: Fisheries. | ![]() | The CLASS ACTION waits for customers at Bud N' Mary's Marina. Credit: Fisheries. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
![]() | ![]() |
| "Design class" by Julio Ferro Commentary: "Informal pictures from my design class at University of Buenos Aires." | "Art Class" by Kahraman Insan Commentary: "Istanbul Technical University Taºkıºla Campus / Turkey." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Play | Caption |
| School bell ringing to signify the end of class; fire alarm bell ringing. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Anthony H.g. Fokker | All except very short distance, high class, passenger travel will be by air in the days to come. |
Aristotle | The best political community is formed by citizens of the middle class. |
Arthur Schopenhauer | People of Wealth and the so called upper class suffer the most from boredom. |
John Keats | I think we may class the lawyer in the natural history of monsters. |
Lord Acton | The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern. |
Orestes A. Brownson | The English laborer does not find his worst enemy in the nobility, but in the middling class. |
Oscar Wilde | Work is the curse of the drinking class. |
Spike Milligan | Money couldn't buy friends, but you got a better class of enemy. |
Walt Whitman | Other lands have their vitality in a few, a class, but we have it in the bulk of our people. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
US Constitution | 1791 | The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies. (reference) |
Marbury v. Madison | 1803 | When an instrument organizing fundamentally a judicial system, divides it into one supreme, and so many inferior courts as the legislature may ordain and establish; then enumerates its powers, and proceeds so far to distribute them, as to define the jurisdiction of the supreme court by declaring the cases in which it shall take original jurisdiction, and that in others it shall take appellate jurisdiction; the plain import of the words seems to be, that in one class of cases its jurisdiction is original, and not appellate; in the other it is appellate, and not original. (reference) |
Communist Manifesto | 1848 | But every class struggle is a political struggle. (reference) |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | Germany recognises the right of the Allied and Associated Powers to the replacement, ton for ton (gross tonnage) and class for class, of all merchant ships and fishing boats lost or damaged owing to the war. (reference) |
Brown v. Board of Education | 1954 | Because these are class actions, because of the wide applicability of this decision, and because of the great variety of local conditions, the formulation of decrees in these cases presents problems of considerable complexity. (reference) |
Roe v. Wade | 1973 | A pregnant single woman (Roe) brought a class action challenging the constitutionality of the Texas criminal abortion laws, which proscribe procuring or attempting an abortion except on medical advice for the purpose of saving the mother's life. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Tangled Tale | Carroll, Lewis | I have put into Class I those whose answers seemed specially short and neat, and into Class III those that seemed specially long or clumsy |
Scarlet Letter | Hawthorne, Nathaniel | In my contemplation, be stood as the ideal of his class. |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | June, 1848, was, let us hasten to say, a thing apart, and almost impossible to class in the philosophy of history |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | The class must be doing the themes or perhaps Father Arnall was reading a legend out of the book |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | The luxury of one class is counterbalanced by the indigence of another |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | One major class of white blood cells is called lymphocytes. (references) | |
I was on a class trip to the Okeefenokee with all my 5th grade class. (references) | ||
MJD belongs to a class of genetic disorders called triplet repeat diseases. (references) | ||
Business | Argentina has world class sailboat designers and shipyards. (references) | |
Sky Cable offers 76 channels and targets the upper class market. (references) | ||
These public bowling facilities are accessible to the middle class. (references) | ||
Children | East Timor | As class sizes and access to school in many districts are restrictive to students with disabilities, many children with disabilities do not attend school. (references) |
Turkmenistan | Education is free and compulsory; however, class sizes in the country continued to increase rapidly, facilities deteriorated, and funds for textbooks and supplies decreased. (references) | |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | Students of different ethnic groups may share the school building, but they attend class on different floors or use the facility in shifts without ever actually interacting with other students or teachers of a different ethnic group. (references) | |
Civil Liberties | Czech Republic | The law also outlaws the incitement of hatred based on race, religion, class, nationality, or other group. (references) |
Papua New Guinea | Church representatives teach the lessons, and the students attend the class operated by the church of their parents' choice. (references) | |
Canada | The student was arrested after reading aloud in class a fictional essay he wrote for a class assignment, in which a bullied boy blows up his school. (references) | |
Discrimination | Kiribati | Society is fundamentally egalitarian and has no privileged class. (references) |
Oman | Effective government enforcement is insufficient in some areas, and societal and cultural discrimination based on gender, race, religion, social class, and disability exists. (references) | |
Honduras | The Constitution also bans discrimination on the basis of class; however, in practice, the political, military, and social elites generally enjoyed impunity under the legal system. (references) | |
Economic History | India | The middle class actually comprises 3 different segments. (references) |
Panama | This class enjoys a very high level of disposable income. (references) | |
Pakistan | White wheat is the only class of wheat the government imports. (references) | |
Human Rights |