Dewey decimal classification

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Dewey decimal classification

A system used in libraries for organizing nonfiction publications into subject categories corresponding to three-digit numerals, with further specification expressed by numerals following a decimal point.

[After Melvil Dewey.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Dew′ey dec′imal classifica`tion

Trademark. a system of library classification using three-digit numerals for major divisions and numerals following a decimal point for subdivisions: devised by Melvil Dewey.

Also called Dew′ey dec′imal sys`tem.

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Noun

Dewey decimal classification - a system used by libraries to classify nonfictional publications into subject categories; the subject is indicated by a three-digit numeral and further specification is given by numerals following a decimal point; publications are shelved by number

decimal system of classification, Dewey decimal system

classification system - a system for classifying things

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"He believed aliens were sending him messages through the Dewey Decimal numbers on the library books," says Catherine, who finds herself, at age 25, almost crushed by her own swiftly descending curtain of doom.

PROOF

The library community has employed metadata systems for more than 100 years, classifying information by means of Dewey Decimal numbers and the Library of Congress' alphanumeric system.