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category

n. countable
B1 Intermediate Oxford US //ˈkætəˌɡɔɹi// UK //kˈætɪɡəɹi// cat·e·go·ry Academic General-service

n. a group of people or things that are similar in some way. You use this to organize information into sets that share the same features.

n. a class or division of people or things regarded as having particular shared characteristics. In mathematics, it refers to a collection of objects and the arrows between them that satisfy specific algebraic properties.


SIMPLE

The books are organized into a different category for each genre.

CONTEXTUAL

Researchers placed the survey participants into a specific category based on their age and income level.

COMPLEX

The library's classification system ensures that every volume fits into a distinct category, though some experimental novels challenge these traditional boundaries by blending multiple genres into a single narrative.

Synonyms
Origin

Late Middle English, borrowed from French catégorie, from Middle French categorie, from Late Latin catēgoria (“class of predicables”), from Ancient Greek κατηγορία (katēgoría, “head of predicables”). Doublet of categoria.

Usage

Often used with the preposition 'of' to specify the group being discussed.

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