a. [f. as prec. on type of L. adjs. in -ōrius: see -ORY.] Tending to, having the purpose of, or relating to, classification.
1837. Whewell, Hist. Induc. Sc., III. XVIII. i. § 1. 491. Descriptive geology … is one of the classificatory sciences, like mineralogy or botany.
1865. Lubbock, Preh. Times, iv. (1878), 153. Mr. Morgan divides the systems of relationship into two great classes, the descriptive and the classificatory.
1870. Rolleston, Anim. Life, 139, note. Devoid of classificatory value.
