classical

Classical is an adjective deriving from Latin classicus, meaning belonging to the highest class or standard. In modern usage, it often signals adherence to a tradition judged to be enduring, refined, or foundational, especially the art, literature, philosophy, and institutions of ancient Greece and Rome, or the aesthetic and formal standards associated with them.

Classical antiquity encompasses the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome and their enduring cultural achievements from roughly the 8th century BCE to about the 5th century CE. In scholarship, "classical" also describes the canon of works and ideas that were highly valued in later periods, shaping Western art, politics, education, and rhetoric.

In music, the Classical period (approx. 1730–1820) produced composers such as Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven. It emphasized clarity of musical form, balanced phrases, and orderly structures, with genres like the symphony, string quartet, and sonata.

In science and theory, "classical" denotes frameworks developed before the modern revolutions of relativity and quantum mechanics. Classical mechanics, Maxwell's electromagnetism, and thermodynamics describe macroscopic phenomena well but are subsumed by more comprehensive theories at extreme scales. In psychology, classical conditioning refers to learning by association, as demonstrated by Pavlov.

The term also appears in contexts such as classical liberalism, classical economics, and classical languages (notably Latin and Ancient Greek), where it signals adherence to traditional forms or foundational principles.