category

noun

cat·​e·​go·​ry ˈka-tə-ˌgȯr-ē 

plural categories

1

: any of several fundamental and distinct classes to which entities or concepts belong

Taxpayers fall into one of several categories.

2

: a division within a system of classification

She competed for the award in her age category.

Synonyms

• bracket
• class
• classification
• division
• family
• genus
• grade
• group
• kind
• league
• order
• rank(s)
• rubric
• set
• species
• tier
• type

Examples of category in a Sentence

The cars belong to the same category.

Taxpayers fall into one of several categories.

She competed for the award in her age category.

Recent Examples on the Web

Many also noticed popular result categories were missing, including information on users' top genres and albums, as well as Sound Town that matched users with cities based on their top artists and genres. —Sareen Habeshian, Axios, 5 Dec. 2024

There is also still a lack of content and killer use cases for the product, an issue Xu said needs to change before the product category reaches a wider user base. —Arjun Kharpal, CNBC, 4 Dec. 2024

But now pitchers in Boyd’s category, who can boast neither recent track record or health, are getting both years and dollars in free agency. —Tony Blengino, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024

New York takes the top spot in the category for tourism performance, with high demand both internationally and domestically. —Maureen O'Hare, CNN, 4 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin categoria, from Greek katēgoria predication, category, from katēgorein to accuse, affirm, predicate, from kata- + agora public assembly, from ageirein to gather

First Known Use

1588, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

category

noun

cat·​e·​go·​ry ˈkat-ə-ˌgōr-ē 

-ˌgȯr-

plural categories

1

: one of the divisions or groupings used in a system of classification

"species" and "genus" are biological categories

2

: class entry 1 sense 3a, kind