• n. 階級；班級；種類；班；等級
• vt. 分類；把…分等級；把…歸入某等級，把…看作（或分類、歸類）；把…編入某一班級
• adj. 極好的；很好的，優(yōu)秀的，出色的
• vi. 屬于…類（或等級），被列為某類（或某級）
• n. （英、德）克拉斯（人名）

來自PIE*kele,呼喊，呼叫，詞源同call,claim.最早來自公元前6 世紀古羅馬具有傳奇色彩的 偉大首領(lǐng)Servius Tullius 對公民的財產(chǎn)，地位，收入等進行評估（參照census 詞源），并依 據(jù)評估結(jié)果對公民劃分社會階級（classify），最終形成6 個階級。前5 個階級具有響應國家 軍事號召參軍入伍的資格，而最低等的階級即馬克思理論的無產(chǎn)階級（參照proletarian 詞源） 是不具有這種資格的，他們唯一的使命是為羅馬帝國繁衍后代，在羅馬帝國新占領(lǐng)的領(lǐng)土上 移民聚居。這一改革的結(jié)果廢除了古羅馬原有的3 個部落氏族（參照tribe 詞源），使羅馬 由氏族部落過渡到奴隸社會，軍事實力大增。并引申諸多詞義。

class

class: [16] Latin classis originally denoted ‘the people of Rome under arms, the ancient Roman army’; it appears to come from an earlier unrecorded *qladtis, a derivative of the base *qel- ‘call’, which points to an underlying sense ‘call to arms’. Under the terms of the constitution attributed to Servius Tullius, a 6thcentury BC king of Rome, the army, and hence the people, was divided into six such classes, membership of each based originally on the amount of land held, and latterly on wealth in money terms.

English first adopted the word in this antiquarian sense (which provided the basis for the modern application to social class), but its widespread use in the language probably began in the sense ‘group of pupils’. The derivatives classic [17] and classical [16] come from Latin classicus, probably via French classique; in Latin, the adjective signified ‘of the highest class of Roman citizen’, whence the word’s presentday approbatory connotations.

class (n.)

c. 1600, "group of students," from French classe (14c.), from Latin classis "a class, a division; army, fleet," especially "any one of the six orders into which Servius Tullius divided the Roman people for the purpose of taxation;" traditionally originally "the people of Rome under arms" (a sense attested in English from 1650s), and thus akin to calare "to call (to arms)," from PIE root *kele- (2) "to shout" (see claim (v.)). In early use in English also in Latin form classis.

School and university sense of "course, lecture" (1650s) is from the notion of a form or lecture reserved to scholars who had attained a certain level. Natural history sense is from 1753. Meaning "a division of society according to status" (upper, lower, etc.) is from 1772. Meaning "high quality" is from 1847. Class-consciousness (1903) is from German klassenbewusst.

class (v.)

1705, "to divide into classes," from class (n.) or French classer. Sense of "to place into a class" is from 1776. Related: Classed; classing.

1. The price includes two economy class airfares from Brisbane to Los Angeles.

這一價格包括兩張從布里斯班到洛杉磯的經(jīng)濟艙機票。

來自柯林斯例句

2. There was very little snobbery or class-consciousness in the wartime navy.

戰(zhàn)時的海軍中很少有勢利眼，階級意識也不強。

來自柯林斯例句

3. He was not perhaps physically the strongest in the class.

他可能不是全班身體最壯的。

來自柯林斯例句

4. You can pay to be upgraded to a business class seat.

你可以付費升級到商務(wù)艙。

來自柯林斯例句

5. He suggested a link between class size and test results of seven-year-olds.

他認為7歲大的學生的測試分數(shù)和班級的規(guī)模有關(guān)系。

來自柯林斯例句