English
class
Class comes from Latin classis ‘a class or division of the people, assembly of…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- ‘to call, shout’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kelh₁-‘to call’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclassis‘a class or division of the people’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600classe
- Englishearliest quotation 1790class
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kelh₁-‘to call’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclassis‘a class or division of the people’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600classe
- Englishearliest quotation 1790class
Earliest quotation: 1790, Edward Tatham: “the genus or family under which it classes”.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- ‘to call, shout’
low, hell, clear, claim, calendar, haul, reconciliation, declare, reconcile, claire, clarity, clarification, proclamation, squeal, reclamation, exclamation, clarinet, irreconcilable, clarion, claret, clamour, clamor, conciliar, ecclesial, ecclesiastic, 38 more
Today it means
noun A group, collection, category or set sharing characteristics or attributes.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- / class