From _classic_, from Latin _classicus_ (of the first class).

CLASSICAL (_comparative_ MORE CLASSICAL, _superlative_ MOST CLASSICAL) * Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. * Arbuthnot Mr. Greaves may justly be reckoned a CLASSICAL author on this subject. * Of or pertaining to established principles in a discipline. * 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, _The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian_, volume V, page vii Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get; what you get is CLASSICAL alpha-taxonomy which is, very largely and for sound reasons, in disrepute today. * (music) Describing European music and musicians of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. * (informal, music) Describing serious music (rather than pop, jazz, blues etc), especially when played using instruments of the orchestra. * Of or pertaining to the ancient Greeks and Romans, especially to Greek or Roman authors of the highest rank, or of the period when their best literature was produced; of or pertaining to places inhabited by the ancient Greeks and Romans, or rendered famous by their deeds. * Macaulay He [Atterbury] directed the CLASSICAL studies of the undergraduates of his college. * Conforming to the best authority in literature and art; chaste; pure; refined; as, a classical style. * Macaulay CLASSICAL, provincial, and national synods. * (physics) Pertaining to models of physical laws that do not take quantum or relativistic effects into account; Newtonian or Maxwellian. SYNONYMS * classic DERIVED TERMS * Classical Greece * Classical Greek * classical history * Classical Latin * classical music TRANSLATIONS

* classical in _The Century Dictionary_, The Century Co., New York, 1911 * classical at _OneLook Dictionary Search_ * classical, classic at Google Ngram Viewer