archetype
English
Etymology
From Old French architipe (French archétype), from Latin archetypum, from Ancient Greek ἀρχέτυπον (arkhétupon, “pattern, model”) neuter of ἀρχέτυπος (arkhétupos, “first-moulded”), from ἀρχή (arkhḗ, “first, origin”) + τύπος (túpos, “sort, type, press”).
Pronunciation
Noun
archetype (plural archetypes)
- An original model of which all other similar persons, objects, or concepts are merely derivative, copied, patterned, or emulated; a prototype.
- 1658, Thomas Browne, “The Garden of Cyrus. Or, The Quincunciall, Lozenge, or Net-work Plantations of the Ancients, Artificially, Naturally, Mystically Considered. Chapter V.”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, or, A Discourse of the Sepulchrall Urnes Lately Found in Norfolk. Together with The Garden of Cyrus, or The Quincunciall, Lozenge, or Net-work Plantations of the Ancients, Artificially, Naturally, Mystically Considered. With Sundry Observations, London: Printed for Hen[ry] Brome at the Signe of the Gun in Ivy-lane, OCLC 48702491; reprinted as Hydriotaphia (The English Replicas), New York, N.Y.: Payson & Clarke Ltd., 1927, OCLC 78413388, page 192:
- 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.
-
- (literature) A character, story, or object that is based on a known character, story, or object.
- An ideal example of something; a quintessence.
- 2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The A.V. Club:
- “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.
-
- (psychology) According to the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, a universal pattern of thought, present in an individual's unconscious, inherited from the past collective experience of humanity.
- (textual criticism) A protograph.
Usage notes
Traditionally archetype refers to the model upon which something is based, but it has also come to mean an example of a personality archetype, particularly a fictional character in a story based on a well-established personality model. In this fashion, a character based on the Jesus archetype might be referred to as a "Jesus archetype". See eponym for a similar usage conflict.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:model
Translations
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Verb
archetype (third-person singular simple present archetypes, present participle archetyping, simple past and past participle archetyped)
- To depict as, model using or otherwise associate a subject or object with an archetype.
Latin
Adjective
archetype
- vocative masculine singular of archetypus