Belonging to or associated with the first or highest class in literature, especially in literary style.Pertaining to writers of the first rank among the moderns; constituting the best model or authority as a composition or an author.Hence In general, of the first rank, or constituting a model, in its kind; having in a high degree the qualities which constitute excellence in its kind: as, a classical work of art.Same as classic, 2 and 3.Pertaining to a class; of the taxonomic rank or grade of a class.Belonging to classification; classificatory.In some Reformed churches, relating to or of the nature of a classis or class. See classis, 2.Belonging or pertaining to a fleet.In music, belonging or pertaining to a style of composition in which regularity of form is conspicuous, particularly to the style developed in the latter part of the eighteenth century: opposed to romantic. Thus Haydn's music is classical, while Schumann's is mostly romantic. The term is also loosely used of all music that is elaborate, difficult, or abstruse: opposed to popular.