different between class vs sphere

English

Etymology

From Middle French classe, from Latin classis (“a class or division of the people, assembly of people, the whole body of citizens called to arms, the army, the fleet, later a class or division in general”), from Proto-Indo-European *kelh?- (“to call, shout”). Doublet of classis.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, Ireland, New England) enPR: kläs, IPA^(key): /kl??s/
• (Northern England, Scotland) enPR: kl?s, IPA^(key): /klæs/, /klas/
• (General American, NYC) enPR: kl?s, IPA^(key): /klæs/, /kle?s/
• Rhymes: -??s, -æs
• Hyphenation: class

Noun

class (countable and uncountable, plural classes)

1. (countable) A group, collection, category or set sharing characteristics or attributes.
3. (sociology, countable) A social grouping, based on job, wealth, etc. In Britain, society is commonly split into three main classes; upper class, middle class and working class.
4. (uncountable) The division of society into classes.

5. (uncountable) Admirable behavior; elegance.

7. (education, countable and uncountable) A group of students in a regularly scheduled meeting with a teacher.

8. A series of lessons covering a single subject.

9. (countable) A group of students who commenced or completed their education during a particular year. A school class.

10. (countable) A category of seats in an airplane, train or other means of mass transportation.
12. (taxonomy, countable) A rank in the classification of organisms, below phylum and above order; a taxon of that rank.

13. Best of its kind.
14. (statistics) A grouping of data values in an interval, often used for computation of a frequency distribution.
16. (set theory) A collection of sets definable by a shared property.
    • 1973, Abraham Fraenkel, Yehoshua Bar-Hillel, Azriel Lévy, Foundations of Set Theory, Elsevier, 2nd Edition, page 119,

      In the present section we shall discuss the various systems of set theory which admit, beside sets, also classes. Classes are like sets, except that they can be very comprehensive; an extreme example of a class is the class which contains all sets. […] The main point which will, in our opinion, emerge from this analysis is that set theory with classes and set theory with sets only are not two separate theories; they are, essentially, different formulations of the same underlying theory.

17. (military) A group of people subject to be conscripted in the same military draft, or more narrowly those persons actually conscripted in a particular draft.
19. (object-oriented programming, countable) A set of objects having the same behavior (but typically differing in state), or a template defining such a set.

20. One of the sections into which a Methodist church or congregation is divided, supervised by a class leader.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:class

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• ? Japanese: ??? (kurasu)

Translations

Verb

class (third-person singular simple present classes, present participle classing, simple past and past participle classed)

1. (transitive) To assign to a class; to classify.
2. (intransitive) To be grouped or classed.
   • 1790, Edward Tatham, The Chart and Scale of Truth

     the genus or family under which it classes

3. (transitive) To divide into classes, as students; to form into, or place in, a class or classes.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

class (not comparable)

1. (Ireland, Britain, slang) great; fabulous
   • 2009, Erik Qualman, Socialnomics

     To talented authors Tim Ash and Brian Reich for introducing me to John Wiley & Sons—a truly class outfit.

Related terms

References

• class in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• class in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• "class" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 60.
• class at OneLook Dictionary Search
• class in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.

Further reading

• Von Neumann–Bernays–Gödel set theory on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Old Irish

Verb

·class

1. passive singular preterite conjunct of claidid

Mutation

English

Alternative forms

• sphære (archaic)
• sphear (archaic)
• spheare (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English spere, from Old French sphere, from Late Latin sph?ra, earlier Latin sphaera (“ball, globe, celestial sphere”), from Ancient Greek ?????? (sphaîra, “ball, globe”), of unknown origin. Not related to superficially similar Persian ????? (sepehr, “sky”) (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /sf??/
• (US) enPR: sfîr, IPA^(key): /sf??/
• Rhymes: -??(r)

Noun

sphere (plural spheres)

1. (mathematics) A regular three-dimensional object in which every cross-section is a circle; the figure described by the revolution of a circle about its diameter [from 14th c.].
2. A spherical physical object; a globe or ball. [from 14th c.]
   • 2011, Piers Sellers, The Guardian, 6 July:

     So your orientation changes a little bit but it sinks in that the world is a sphere, and you're going around it, sometimes under it, sideways, or over it.

3. (astronomy, now rare) The apparent outer limit of space; the edge of the heavens, imagined as a hollow globe within which celestial bodies appear to be embedded. [from 14th c.]
   • 1635, John Donne, "His parting form her":

     Though cold and darkness longer hang somewhere, / Yet Phoebus equally lights all the Sphere.

4. (historical, astronomy, mythology) Any of the concentric hollow transparent globes formerly believed to rotate around the Earth, and which carried the heavenly bodies; there were originally believed to be eight, and later nine and ten; friction between them was thought to cause a harmonious sound (the music of the spheres). [from 14th c.]
   • , vol.1, p.153:

     It is more simplicitie to teach our children […] [t]he knowledge of the starres, and the motion of the eighth spheare, before their owne.

   • 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, I.6:

     They understood not the motion of the eighth sphear from West to East, and so conceived the longitude of the Stars invariable.

5. (mythology) An area of activity for a planet; or by extension, an area of influence for a god, hero etc. [from 14th c.]
6. (figuratively) The region in which something or someone is active; one's province, domain. [from 17th c.]
   • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.20:

     They thought – originally on grounds derived from religion – that each thing or person had its or his proper sphere, to overstep which is ‘unjust’.

7. (geometry) The set of all points in three-dimensional Euclidean space (or n-dimensional space, in topology) that are a fixed distance from a fixed point [from 20th c.].
8. (logic) The extension of a general conception, or the totality of the individuals or species to which it may be applied.

Synonyms

• (object): ball, globe, orb
• (region of activity): area, domain, field, orbit, sector
• (in geometry): 3-sphere (geometry), 2-sphere (topology)
• (astronomy: apparent surface of the heavens): See celestial sphere
• (astronomy: anything visible on the apparent surface of the heavens): See celestial body

Derived terms

• blogosphere
• ensphere
• sphere of influence
• sphere of interest

Related terms

• atmosphere
• hemisphere
• ionosphere
• planisphere
• spherical
• spheroid
• stratosphere
• troposphere

Translations

Verb

sphere (third-person singular simple present spheres, present participle sphering, simple past and past participle sphered)

1. (transitive) To place in a sphere, or among the spheres; to ensphere.
2. (transitive) To make round or spherical; to perfect.

See also

• ball (in topology)
• Mathworld article on the sphere
• PlanetMath article on the sphere

Anagrams

• Hesper, herpes, pesher, pheers

Middle French

Alternative forms

• sphaere
• spere

Noun

sphere f (plural spheres)

1. sphere (shape)

Descendants

• French: sphère

Old French

Alternative forms

• espere
• esphere
• spere

Noun

sphere f (oblique plural spheres, nominative singular sphere, nominative plural spheres)

1. sphere (shape)

Descendants

• English: sphere
• French: sphère

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (sphere, supplement)