Classification

1. The act or method of distributing into groups, classes or families, resulting in a system of classes or groups or a systematic division of a series of related phenomena.

2. A coding system within which the words of the code (series of symbols indicating a concept, or semantemes) are subject to certain order relationships. A code is understood here to be a system of symbols for the representation of information and rules governing their combination. The freedom of the coder is therefore restricted by special conventions, and usually by the obligation imposed upon him to follow a certain hierarchical order.