Definitions

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

  • noun Aesthetic attitudes and principles manifested in the art, architecture, and literature of ancient Greece and Rome and characterized by emphasis on form, simplicity, proportion, and restraint.
  • noun Adherence to the aesthetic values embodied in ancient Greek and Roman art and literature.
  • noun Classical scholarship.
  • noun A Greek or Latin expression or idiom.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An idiom or the style of the classics.
  • noun The adoption or imitation of what is classical or classic in style.
  • noun Classical scholarship or learning.

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

  • noun A classic idiom or expression; a classicalism.

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

  • noun uncountable All the classical traditions of the art and architecture of ancient Greece and Rome, especially the aspects of simplicity, elegance and proportion
  • noun uncountable Classical scholarship
  • noun countable A Greek or Latin expression used in an English sentence

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

  • noun a movement in literature and art during the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe that favored rationality and restraint and strict forms

Etymologies

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