subclass meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

subclass

noun

/ˈsʌbklæs/ · /ˈsʌbklɑːs/

Etymology From sub- + class.

A secondary class within a main class.

1959, "Steam's Finest Hour" edited by David P. Morgan, Kalmbach Publishing Co., referring to the R-1 Mountain class loco. These 4-8-2's, of which B&M eventually purchased 18 in various subclasses, could almost haul the tonnage of a T and more than made up for the slight deficiency by raising the maximum speed limit from 45 to 70 miles per hour, thanks to 73-inch drivers.
Goffin is a prose text interspersed with short lists of typical terms exemplifying certain sub-classes of Indian English lexis.2014, James Lambert, “Diachronic stability in Indian English lexis”, in World Englishes, page 116:

Biology, Natural sciences, Taxonomy A rank directly below class.

An object class derived from another class (its superclass) from which it inherits a base set of properties and methods.

Object-oriented programming

Synonyms: subset, child class, derived class, heir class
Antonyms: superclass, superset
Derived terms: intersubclass, intrasubclass, subclasser
Hypernyms: class

subclass

verb

Etymology From sub- + class.

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences (in object-oriented programming) To create a subclass of (some class).

I subclassed the Button class to create a more specialised FancyButton class for my user interface.

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To cause (an object) to act as an instance of a subclass (by creating the desired subclass and instantiating an object of this subclass).

Since Windows knows about these events, your application should be able to know about them as well. In order to accomplish this, subclass the window of a form or control, intercepting all of its events.2000, James D. Foxall, MCSD in a Nutshell: The Visual Basic Exams, page 93:

Antonyms: unsubclass
Derived terms: subclassable, unsubclass