[5] It is named after the type genus Agaricus, originally circumscribed by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 work Species Plantarum.

In his authoritative 1986 classification of the Agaricales, Rolf Singer divided the Agaricaceae into four tribes distinguished largely by spore color: Leucocoprineae, Agariceae, Lepioteae, and Cystodermateae.

[6] Genera once classified in the families Tulostomataceae, Battarreaceae, Lycoperdaceae, and Mycenastraceae have since been moved to the Agaricaceae based on molecular phylogenetics studies.

Their fruiting bodies are round and are composed of a tough skin surrounding a mass of spores.

The spore print color of Agaricaceae species is highly variable, ranging from white to greenish to ochraceous to pink or sepia; rusty-brown or cinnamon brown colours are absent.

Microscopically, the spore surface ranges from smooth to ornamented, and the presence of a germ pore is variable.