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I recently heard "classification society" in a conversation - I thought it's an organization that classify or sort things somehow. My friend later explained a classification society is actually a regulatory body in shipping standards.
However, looking up "classification" in the dictionary, I found no definition relevant to marine engineering or shipping.
Why is this the case? And how does "classification" relate to shipping?
I would say since ships are organized into classes (destroyer class, tanker class, etc.) and the classification society inspects ships to see that they meet their classification, that the classification society is using the word as it should be used: IE. they classify things and they are a society of sorts (or that sorts?), but in any case, nomenclature would still trump the common usage you'll find in dictionaries when discussing meanings particular to an industry or group--even if the usage seems odd by dictionary standards.
