classicadj.n.

Etymology: < post-classical Latin and classical Latin classicus (see note) < classis class n. + -icus -ic suffix. Compare Middle French, French classique of the highest rank (1548 with reference to medieval vernacular authors held in high esteem, 1680 with reference to the best Latin authors), constituting an acknowledged standard or model (1611 in Cotgrave), of or relating to Greek and Roman antiquity in general (1798), ordinary, in keeping with established usage or customs (a1826), Spanish clásico (1632), Portuguese clássico (1645), Italian classico (a1673); the word was also borrowed into other Germanic languages, e.g. German klassisch (first half of the 18th cent.), Swedish klassisk (late 18th cent.). With use as noun compare French classique (noun) highly esteemed author or work (end of the 18th cent. or earlier), classical style or thought, the classical ideal in art and literature (first half of the 19th cent. or earlier). Compare classical adj., with which the word shows considerable semantic overlap.With use as noun compare the following earlier examples of classick ‘trumpet call’, an isolated borrowing of classical Latin classicum (use as noun of neuter of classicus ) in the same sense (in quot. 1628, the passage translated is Virgil Georgica ii. 539):1628 T. May tr. Virgil Georgicks ii. 539 No classicks sounded then [L. necdum etiam audierant inflari classica].1635 T. May Victorious Reigne Edward III vii. sig. M When dreadfull Classicks in all parts were heard. Classical Latin classicus ‘of the highest class of citizens’ is rare, and its metaphorical application to authors in the sense ‘of high status (and therefore capable of providing guidance as to good usage)’ occurs in one isolated case, Aulus Gellius 19. 8. 15; compare the similar coexistence of financial and evaluative senses of, e.g., substantial adj. The word was used in post-classical Latin from 1512 with reference to highly-regarded authors who wrote in Greek or Latin, both pagan and Christian: Gregory of Nyssa (by Beatus Rhenanus, 1512); Plutarch (by Melanchthon, 1519); Porphyry and Aristotle (by Gerardus Listrius, 1520); Cyril of Alexandria (by Andreas Cratander, 1528); Augustine of Hippo (by Alfonso Fonseca, 1528); and so on. With the sense ‘most important, exemplary’ compare also locus classicus n. 2. In sense A. 9 after class n. (see sense 12 at that entry, and compare earlier classis n. 1).