A class or order; sort; kind. (Obs.) "His opinion of that classis of men."
2.
(Eccl.) An ecclesiastical body or judicatory in certain churches, as the Reformed Dutch. It is intermediate between the consistory and the synod, and corresponds to the presbytery in the Presbyterian church.
... to hear appeals from congregations, and otherwise exercise government, so the ten times more numerous parishes of England were similarly to be grouped into Presbyteries or Classes (Classes was the more favourite English term), each Classis containing some ten or twelve congregations. Thus in London alone, where there were about 120 parishes, there ought to be about twelve Classes or Presbyteries. Finally, the Presbyteries were to be interconnected, and their proceedings supervised, as in, Scotland, by periodical ... — The Life of John Milton Vol. 3 1643-1649 • David Masson
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