Editing Elementary class (section)

== Definition ==
A [[class (set theory)|class]] ''K'' of [[structure (mathematical logic)|structures]] of a [[signature (logic)|signature]] σ is called an '''elementary class''' if there is a [[first-order logic|first-order]] [[theory (mathematical logic)|theory]] ''T'' of signature σ, such that ''K'' consists of all models of ''T'', i.e., of all σ-structures that satisfy ''T''. If ''T'' can be chosen as a theory consisting of a single first-order sentence, then ''K'' is called a '''basic elementary class'''.

More generally, ''K'' is a [[pseudoelementary class|pseudo-elementary class]] if there is a first-order theory ''T'' of a signature that extends σ, such that ''K'' consists of all σ-structures that are [[reduct]]s to σ of models of ''T''. In other words, a class ''K'' of σ-structures is pseudo-elementary if and only if there is an elementary class ''K<nowiki>'</nowiki>'' such that ''K'' consists of precisely the reducts to σ of the structures in ''K<nowiki>'</nowiki>''.

For obvious reasons, elementary classes are also called '''axiomatizable in first-order logic''', and basic elementary classes are called '''finitely axiomatizable in first-order logic'''. These definitions extend to other logics in the obvious way, but since the first-order case is by far the most important, '''axiomatizable''' implicitly refers to this case when no other logic is specified.