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

The trickiest category might be novelty items, such as the SpongeBob disposable camera one family had used to document a vacation. —Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026

Each puzzle has exactly one solution, so watch out for words or items that seem to belong to multiple categories! —Mark Cooper, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2026

For work related to federal civil rights lawsuits, the Tribune found the system flagged nearly half of last year’s invoices over at least one category of concern with a fee or expense. —Joe Mahr, Chicago Tribune, 19 Apr. 2026

Zhao Haijie and Wang Qiaoxia won the men’s and women’s race in the human category on Sunday, respectively, both requiring more than an hour. —Chris Lau, CNN Money, 19 Apr. 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
• 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