CLASSICAL • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Classical

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/klˈæsɪkəl/ Listen

adjective

Classical, Classic adj.

Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. "Give, as thy last memorial to the age, One classic drama, and reform the stage." "Mr. Greaves may justly be reckoned a classical author on this subject (Roman weights and coins)."

Of or pertaining to the ancient Greeks and Romans, esp. to Greek or Roman authors of the highest rank, or of the period when their best literature was produced; of or pertaining to places inhabited by the ancient Greeks and Romans, or rendered famous by their deeds. "Though throned midst Latium's classic plains." "The epithet classical, as applied to ancient authors, is determined less by the purity of their style than by the period at which they wrote." "He (Atterbury) directed the classical studies of the undergraduates of his college."

Conforming to the best authority in literature and art; chaste; pure; refined; as, a classical style. "Classical, provincial, and national synods."

Classicals orders. (Arch.) See under Order.

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Etymology of 'Classical'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Classical" Quotes from Famous Books

... the elder friend; "Thespian and classical,—worth seeing, no doubt." Then turning to a grave cobbler in leathern apron, who was regarding with saturnine interest the motley figures ranged in front of the curtain as the Drumatis Persona, he said, "You seem attracted, sir; you have probably already witnessed ...

— What Will He Do With It, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... Dragon, for even when the pole-star had drawn near to the Dragon's tail the constellation was still central, will remind the classical reader of Homer's description ...

— Myths and Marvels of Astronomy • Richard A. Proctor

... Mrs Hominy, with the aristocratic stalk, the pocket handkerchief, the clasped hands, and the classical cap, came slowly up it, in a procession of one. Mr Pogram testified emotions of delight on seeing her, and a general hush prevailed. For it was known that when a woman like Mrs Hominy encountered a man like Pogram, ...

— Life And Adventures Of Martin Chuzzlewit • Charles Dickens

... kingdom, and still more so under his son Philadelphus, who made Alexandria the second capital of the world,—commercially, indeed, the first. It became also a great intellectual centre, and its famous library was the largest ever collected in classical antiquity. This city was the home of scholars and philosophers from all parts of the world. Under the auspices of an enlightened monarch, the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek, the version being called the Septuagint,—an ...

— Beacon Lights of History, Volume II • John Lord

... chapter, we have enumerated some of the legends which would trace the origin of many plants to the shedding of human blood, a belief which is a distinct survival of a very primitive form of belief, and enters very largely into the stories told in classical mythology. The dwarf elder is said to grow where blood has been shed, and it is nicknamed in Wales "Plant of the blood of man," with which may be compared its English name of "death-wort." It is much associated in this country with the Danes, and tradition says that ...

— The Folk-lore of Plants • T. F. Thiselton-Dyer

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