Archetype

Quick meaning: Archetype is a noun meaning An original model of which all other similar concepts, objects, or persons are merely copied, derivative, emulated, or patterned.

Meaning

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

More Meanings

1. An ideal example of something; a quintessence.
2. (literature) A character, object, or story that is based on a known character, object, or story.
3. (textual criticism) A protograph (“original manuscript of a text from which all further copies derive”).
4. To depict as, model using, or otherwise associate an object or subject with an archetype.
5. (psychology) According to Swiss psychologist Carl Jung: a universal pattern of thought, present in an individual's unconscious, inherited from the past collective experience of humanity.

Example Sentences

Near-synonym: prototype (sometimes synonymous)

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; […]

Archetypes are figures and creatures that inhabit the pools of the world's mythology, folk tales, epics, and ballads. […] Thus archetypes are universal essences that we all recognize: the Mother, the Lover, the Trickster, the Spiritual and Temporal Leader, the Devil.

“New Kid On The Block” doubles as a terrific showcase for the Sea Captain who, in the grand tradition of Simpsons supporting characters, quickly goes from being a stereotype to an archetype, from being a crusty sea-captain character to the crusty sea-captain character.

Word Forms

• archetypes
• archetyping
• archetyped

Synonyms for archetype

Depending on context, synonyms include model, prototype, original, pilot.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include original, pilot, epitome, model, prototype, exemplar.

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