Classical

The word classical has several meanings:

• Pertaining to the societies of ancient Greece or Rome. For example, the Greek and Latin languages, classical architecture and the cult of the Olympian gods. See also Greek mythology and Roman mythology.

• The style of court music prevelant in the 18th. and early 19th centuries, in between the Baroque and Romantic periods. See classical music.

• Any mode of scientific thought prevelant at the time of some radical new innovation. For example, the physics of Isaac Newton is described as "classical", since its assumptions have been challenged by the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics. See also classical mechanics.