archetype

Definition

An original model of which all other similar concepts, objects, or persons are merely copied, derivative, emulated, or patterned; a prototype.

Etymology

From Old French architipe (modern French archétype), from Latin archetypum (“original”), from Ancient Greek ἀρχέτυπον (arkhétupon, “model, pattern”), the neuter form of ἀρχέτυπος (arkhétupos, “first-moulded”), from ἀρχή (arkhḗ, “beginning, origin”) (from ἄρχω (árkhō, “to begin; to lead, rule”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ergʰ- (“to begin; to command, rule”)) + τῠ́πος (tŭ́pos, “blow, pressing; sort, type”) (from τύπτω (túptō, “to beat, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp- (“to push; to stick”)).

Example Sentences

• "According to that Cabaliſticall Dogma: If Abram had not had this Letter [i.e., ה (he)] added unto his Name he had remained fruitleſſe, and without the power of generation: […] So that being ſterill before, he received the power of generation from that meaſure and manſion in the Archetype; and was made conformable unto Binah."
• "Sir Edward Newenden, a married man, the guardian of Ethelinde at the deceaſe of her father, and who is enamoured of his ward, is evidently a copy, in the outline, or Mr. Monckton in the novel of Cecilia. His manners, however, are of a much more engaging nature than thoſe of his archetype."
• "Outlines of the chief developments of the dermoskeleton, in different vertebrates, which are usually more or less ossified, are added to the endoskeletal archetype: as, e.g. the median horn supported by the nasal spine […] in the rhinoceros; […]"