CLASSICAL • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Classical

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/klˈæsɪkəl/ Listen

adjective

Classical, Classic adj.

Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. "Give, as thy last memorial to the age, One classic drama, and reform the stage." "Mr. Greaves may justly be reckoned a classical author on this subject (Roman weights and coins)."

Of or pertaining to the ancient Greeks and Romans, esp. to Greek or Roman authors of the highest rank, or of the period when their best literature was produced; of or pertaining to places inhabited by the ancient Greeks and Romans, or rendered famous by their deeds. "Though throned midst Latium's classic plains." "The epithet classical, as applied to ancient authors, is determined less by the purity of their style than by the period at which they wrote." "He (Atterbury) directed the classical studies of the undergraduates of his college."

Conforming to the best authority in literature and art; chaste; pure; refined; as, a classical style. "Classical, provincial, and national synods."

Classicals orders. (Arch.) See under Order.

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Etymology of 'Classical'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Classical" Quotes from Famous Books

... certain Coelius Sedulius (d. c. 450), still sung by the Roman Church at Lauds on Christmas Day, and "Jesu, redemptor omnium" (sixth century), the office hymn at Christmas Vespers. Like the poems of Ambrose and Prudentius, they are in classical metres, unrhymed, and based upon quantity, not accent, and they have the same general character, doctrinal rather than ...

— Christmas in Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan • Clement A. Miles

... a dish that costs nothing, and not only saves him a multitude of troubles in public buildings and public institutions, but keeps the public money in his private coffers; which is one of the greatest and most classical discoveries a Sovereign can possibly accomplish, and I give Leopold much credit ...

— Marguerite de Navarre - Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois Queen of Navarre • Marguerite de Navarre

... of the magnificent view, in the monk's apprehension, was, that the Monastery stood on the opposite side of the river, and that of the many fine bridges which have since been built across that classical stream, not one then existed. There was, however, in recompense, a bridge then standing which has since disappeared, although its ruins may still be ...

— The Monastery • Sir Walter Scott

... "Anabasis." Translated by J. S. Watson. The "Anabasis" has made Xenophon perhaps the most prominent figure of ancient classical literature, largely because every schoolboy who studies Greek knows at least this book. It stands in that sense to Greek literature as Caesar's "Commentaries" stands to Latin. The book has further value, not ...

— The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume I (of X) - Greece • Various

... saints with their eyes fixed on another world have fallen far short. "Ils se flattrent de mriter le ciel en se rendant parfaitement inutile la terre" (p. xviii). Holbach much prefers the heroes of classical antiquity. The book is violent but learned throughout, and deals not only with the Jewish patriarchs from Moses on but with the church fathers and Christian Princes down to the contemporary defenders of the faith. After a rather one-sided account of the most dreary characters and events ...

— Baron d'Holbach - A Study of Eighteenth Century Radicalism in France • Max Pearson Cushing

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