CLASSICAL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does classical mean? 

• CLASSICAL (noun)
  The noun CLASSICAL has 1 sense:

1. traditional genre of music conforming to an established form and appealing to critical interest and developed musical taste

  Familiarity information: CLASSICAL used as a noun is very rare.

• CLASSICAL (adjective)
  The adjective CLASSICAL has 7 senses:

1. of or relating to the first significant period of a civilization, culture, area of study, etc.

2. of or relating to the study of the literary works of ancient Greece and Rome

3. of or relating to the languages used by ancient standard authors

4. well-known and long-established in form or style

5. (physics) relating to or based on concepts that preceded the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics

6. of or relating to music in the European tradition, such as symphonies and operas

7. of or pertaining to or characteristic of the ancient Greeks and Romans, especially their art, literature, or culture

  Familiarity information: CLASSICAL used as an adjective is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CLASSICAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Traditional genre of music conforming to an established form and appealing to critical interest and developed musical taste

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

classical; classical music; serious music

Hypernyms ("classical" is a kind of...):

genre; music genre; musical genre; musical style (an expressive style of music)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "classical"):

chamber music (serious music performed by a small group of musicians)

opera (a drama set to music; consists of singing with orchestral accompaniment and an orchestral overture and interludes)

cantata; oratorio (a musical composition for voices and orchestra based on a religious text)

concerto (a composition for orchestra and a soloist)

fugue (a musical form consisting of a theme repeated a fifth above or a fourth below its first statement)

rondeau; rondo (a musical form that is often the last movement of a sonata)

sonata (a musical composition of 3 or 4 movements of contrasting forms)

• CLASSICAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to the first significant period of a civilization, culture, area of study, etc.

Synonyms:

classic; classical

Context example:

classical Marxism

Similar:

classical ((physics) relating to or based on concepts that preceded the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics)

neoclassic; neoclassical (characteristic of a revival of an earlier classical style)

classical (of or relating to music in the European tradition, such as symphonies and operas)

classical; Graeco-Roman; Greco-Roman (of or pertaining to or characteristic of the ancient Greeks and Romans, especially their art, literature, or culture)

Antonym:

nonclassical (not classical)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or relating to the study of the literary works of ancient Greece and Rome

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

a classical scholar

Pertainym:

classics (study of the literary works of ancient Greece and Rome)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Of or relating to the languages used by ancient standard authors

Context example:

classical Greek

Similar:

received; standard (conforming to the established language usage of educated native speakers)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Well-known and long-established in form or style

Synonyms:

classic; classical

Context example:

the classic struggle between good and evil

Similar:

traditional (consisting of or derived from tradition)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(physics) relating to or based on concepts that preceded the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics

Similar:

classic; classical (of or relating to the first significant period of a civilization, culture, area of study, etc.)

Domain category:

natural philosophy; physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Of or relating to music in the European tradition, such as symphonies and operas

Context example:

classical music

Similar:

classic; classical (of or relating to the first significant period of a civilization, culture, area of study, etc.)

Domain category:

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Of or pertaining to or characteristic of the ancient Greeks and Romans, especially their art, literature, or culture

Synonyms:

classical; Graeco-Roman; Greco-Roman

Context example:

the classical world

Similar:

classic; classical (of or relating to the first significant period of a civilization, culture, area of study, etc.)

Domain category:

beaux arts; fine arts (the study and creation of visual works of art)

 Context examples 

This protein plays a role in the activation of the classical complement pathway.

(Complement C1q Subcomponent Subunit A, NCI Thesaurus)

There are three pathways of complement activation: the classical pathway, the lectin pathway, and the alternative pathway.

(Complement and Coagulation Cascade, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

Deficiencies of C3 and of the classical activating pathway components: C1, C4, C2 also predispose to immune complex disease.

(Complement Deficiency, NCI Thesaurus)

Activated by cell-surface bound antibody, immune complexes, or a microbial membrane carbohydrate, complex complement cascades (classical or properdin pathway) generate Membrane Attack Complex, which creates target cell wall pores and lysis.

(Complement Degradation Process, NCI Thesaurus)

The classical pathway is activated by the recognition of foreign cells by antibodies bound to the surface of the cells.

(Complement Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Any physiologic process in which a protease directs the cleavage of complement components C4, C2, or factor B which then form the C3 and C5 convertases for the classical and lectin pathways, respectively.

(Complement Activation, NCI Thesaurus)

Both of these mechanisms, classical pathway and alternative or properdin pathway, make MAC (Membrane Attack Complex), which can lyse and destroy the cell.

(Complement, NCI Thesaurus)

There are two different complement systems, the classical complement pathway initiated by antibody complexes on the cell surface, and an alternative complement pathway that is initiated without antibodies.

(Classical Complement Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

In the first place, you are probably aware that two years ago I made a journey to South America—one which will be classical in the scientific history of the world?

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

An Epstein-Barr positive lymphoproliferation fulfilling the criteria for classical Hodgkin lymphoma and arising as a result of post-transplant immunosuppression therapy.

(Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma Type Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)