Classlessness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The condition where no social divisions or hierarchies exist reflects the absence of class distinctions that typically characterize societies
2. A societal state without recognized class systems demonstrates a lack of stratification based on economic or social status
3. The state in which society lacks any divisions based on social or economic ranks

Etymology: Classlessness is a plain formation with no dramatic backstory: the adjective "classless" with the suffix "-ness" added to turn it into a noun for a state or condition. The adjective itself is built from "class" and the English suffix "-less," which comes from Old English "-lēas," meaning "devoid of" or "without." So the word means, quite literally, the quality of being without class. "Class" traces back through Latin "classis," a term for a division of the Roman people, and it reached English through Middle French "classe." The "-ness" ending has an older pedigree: it descends from Old English "-nes," a suffix for forming abstract nouns of quality, which is why it attaches so readily to adjectives like "classless" and "happiness" alike.

Synonyms: egalitarianism, social equality, class equality

Antonyms: class, stratification, hierarchy