A “category” refers to a class or division of people or things having particular shared characteristics. It’s a way of grouping items, ideas, or individuals based on certain criteria or attributes. Here are some contexts in which the term “category” is used:
- Taxonomy: In biology, creatures are classified into categories like kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species, depending on their shared characteristics.
- Retail: Items in a store might be sorted into categories like electronics, apparel, groceries, and beauty products.
- Books: Libraries and bookstores classify books into categories such as fiction, non-fiction, mystery, romance, history, and more.
- Mathematics: In category theory, a branch of abstract mathematics, a category is a collection of objects and morphisms between those objects.
- Awards: Many award ceremonies, like the Oscars, have categories such as “Best Picture,” “Best Director,” and “Best Actor.”
- Natural Disasters: Hurricanes, for instance, are often categorized by their severity, with Category 1 being the least severe and Category 5 being the most severe.
- Sports: Athletes might be categorized by weight class, age group, or skill level, depending on the sport.
- Data Management: In databases and data-driven research, categories are often used to group and segment data for analysis.
- Philosophy: Aristotle used categories to classify terms that can be subject or predicate and identified ten such categories.
- Software: Applications can be categorized based on their use-case, such as productivity apps, gaming apps, utility apps, etc.
In essence, the idea of a “category” aids in organization, understanding, and communication by creating a structure or system in which to place different entities based on shared attributes or functions.
Key terms in plain language
Open a term for a concise explanation of language used on this page.
Broadband
A general term for always-on, high-speed Internet access. Broadband can be delivered over fiber, cable, DSL, fixed wireless, cellular, or satellite networks.
Cloud Computing
Computing resources—such as applications, servers, storage, or databases—delivered from remote infrastructure and scaled as requirements change.
Cybersecurity
The practices and controls used to protect identities, devices, networks, applications, and data from unauthorized access, disruption, or manipulation.
Identity and Access Management (IAM)
The systems and policies that determine who a user is, what resources they may access, and how that access is authenticated and reviewed.
API
An application programming interface is a defined way for software systems to exchange data or request functions from one another.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Software designed to perform tasks involving prediction, classification, generation, reasoning, or decision support. Business use still requires clear data, governance, security, and human accountability.