metaclass
metaclass noun: a class that serves as a template for other classes rather than objects.
Noun
metaclass (plural metaclasses)
- A class that serves as a template for other classes rather than objects.
- That is, all metaclasses (such as Collection class, Object class and Set class) are instances of the class Metaclass. This is because all metaclasses have the same behavior. They define the structure, definition and behavior of a class.1997, John Hunt, Smalltalk and Object Orientation: An Introduction, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 345
- First, the class can explicitly specify its metaclass by either setting a __metaclass__ class variable (Python 2), or supplying the metaclass keyword argument in the tuple of base classes (Python 3).2009, David Beazley, Python Essential Reference, Addison-Wesley Professional, →ISBN, page 139
Forms of metaclass
| plural | metaclasses |
|---|
Origin of metaclass
From meta- + class.
Questions about metaclass
- What does metaclass mean?
- Metaclass means a class that serves as a template for other classes rather than objects.
- What part of speech is metaclass?
- Metaclass is a noun.
- What is the plural of metaclass?
- The plural of metaclass is metaclasses.
Words near metaclass in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: metaclass (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “metaclass.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/metaclass. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.