category

noun

cat·​e·​go·​ry ˈka-tə-ˌgȯr-ē 

plural categories

1

: any of several fundamental and distinct classes to which entities or concepts belong

Taxpayers fall into one of several categories.

2

: a division within a system of classification

She competed for the award in her age category.

Synonyms of category

• type
• kind

Examples of category in a Sentence

The cars belong to the same category.

Taxpayers fall into one of several categories.

She competed for the award in her age category.

Recent Examples on the Web

Manufacturing, agriculture, and personal services take up a larger share of Chinese employment than of US employment, and AI moves slower in those categories than in knowledge work. — Stephen Messer, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026

New premium products like Pampers Amore and Pantene's Abundant & Strong haircare line have helped P&G grow market share in those categories, executives said. — Amelia Lucas, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2026

Tepper said the category has grown substantially over the past three years, with mixed-metal designs proving particularly successful as higher gold prices influence purchasing preferences. — Thomas Waller, Footwear News, 22 Oct. 2026

Major home-review outlets have moved past one-off endorsements into extended, real-household testing, and the category now looks less like a stopgap and more like standard furniture infrastructure. — Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Miami Herald, 22 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin categoria, from Greek katēgoria predication, category, from katēgorein to accuse, affirm, predicate, from kata- + agora public assembly, from ageirein to gather

First Known Use

1588, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for category

• allegory
• amatory
• auditory
• clerestory
• crematory
• desultory
• dilatory
• dormitory
• excretory
• feudatory
• gustatory
• gyratory

Kids Definition

category

noun

cat·​e·​go·​ry ˈkat-ə-ˌgōr-ē 

-ˌgȯr-

plural categories

1

: one of the divisions or groupings used in a system of classification

"species" and "genus" are biological categories

2

: class entry 1 sense 3a, kind