# category

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkæ.tɪ.ɡə.ɹi/ · frequency rank #2,615

## Definitions
1. A group, often named or numbered, to which items are assigned based on similarity or defined criteria.
2. A collection of objects, together with a transitively closed collection of composable arrows between them, such that every object has an identity arrow, and such that arrow composition is associative.

## Etymology
Late Middle English, borrowed from French catégorie, from Middle French categorie, from Late Latin catēgoria (“class of predicables”), from Ancient Greek κατηγορία (katēgoría, “head of predicables”). Doublet of categoria.

## Common misspellings (12)
`actegory`, `caetgory`, `categgory`, `categorry`, `categoryy`, `categoyr`, `categroy`, `cateogry`, `catgeory`, `cattegory`, `ccategory`, `ctaegory`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/category