Definition of "rubric" []

• A class or category: "This mission is sometimes discussed under the rubric of 'horizontal escalation' . . . from conventional to nuclear war” ( Jack Beatty). (noun)
• A title; a name. (noun)
• A part of a manuscript or book, such as a title, heading, or initial letter, that appears in decorative red lettering or is otherwise distinguished from the rest of the text. (noun)
• A title or heading of a statute or chapter in a code of law. (noun)
• Ecclesiastical A direction in a missal, hymnal, or other liturgical book. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The big problem with recommending genre books for readers who either intentionally do not read genre or deny that they do, even when some of the books they have read clearly fit into the speculative fiction rubric, is understanding that the reading mentality in these individuals is different from people who actively and avidly read speculative fiction."
• "Then where within this rubric is Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger?"
• "Because I don't give word counts or frequency requirements (beyond, say, asking students to post SOMETHING on every major text we discuss), I like to think that my rubric is flexible enough to encourage the devoted blogger to put in extra time."