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

• 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

Gomez and Blanco are in good company in the best collaboration category at the VMAs 2025. —Sam Reed, Glamour, 5 Sep. 2025

A student needs to miss about 18 days to fall into that category. —Kayla Jimenez, USA Today, 5 Sep. 2025

Those three cost categories consume 64 per cent, 24 per cent and 27 per cent of revenues respectively. —Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2025

Should Manas be chosen as Brazil’s official Academy Award submission, Brennand would be only the third woman whose film has ever been submitted, for the category, and if nominated, the first Brazilian woman to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature Film. —Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2025

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
• extempore
• feudatory
• gustatory

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