Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Being without exception or qualification; absolute.
  • adjective Of or relating to a category or categories.
  • adjective According to or using categories.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to a category or the categories: opposed to transcendental.
  • Stated unconditionally; not limited to a hypothetical state of things: as, a categorical proposition (that is, a simple, unconditional proposition).
  • Applicable to the actual circumstances; stating the fact; pertinent; positive; precise; clear: as, a categorical answer (that is, an answer that clearly meets the question).
  • noun In logic, a proposition which affirms a thing absolutely and without any hypothesis.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to a category.
  • adjective Not hypothetical or relative; admitting no conditions or exceptions; declarative; absolute; positive; express.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective absolute; having no exception
  • adjective of, pertaining to, or using a category or categories

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective relating to or included in a category or categories
  • adjective not modified or restricted by reservations

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