prototype

American  

[proh-tuh-tahyp] / ˈproʊ təˌtaɪp /

noun

1. the original or model on which something is based or formed.

   Synonyms:

   pattern

2. someone or something that serves to illustrate the typical qualities of a class; model; exemplar.

   She is the prototype of a student activist.

3. something analogous to another thing of a later period.

   a Renaissance prototype of our modern public housing.

4. Biology. an archetype; a primitive form regarded as the basis of a group.

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verb (used with object)

prototyped, prototyping

1. to create the prototype or an experimental model of.

   to prototype a solar-power car.

prototype British  

/ ˌprəʊtəˈtɪpɪk, ˈprəʊtəˌtaɪp /

noun

1. one of the first units manufactured of a product, which is tested so that the design can be changed if necessary before the product is manufactured commercially

2. a person or thing that serves as an example of a type

3. biology the ancestral or primitive form of a species or other group; an archetype

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Other Word Forms

• prototypal adjective
• prototypic adjective
• prototypical adjective

Etymology

Origin of prototype

First recorded in 1595–1605; from New Latin prōtotypon, from Greek prōtótypon, noun use of neuter of prōtótypos “original”; proto-, type

Example Sentences

A 1976 check signed by Jobs and Wozniak before the founding of Apple and an Apple I computer prototype board each sold for more than $2 million, according to the auction’s website.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

As a side project, engineer Boris Cherny built a prototype to control Spotify with Anthropic’s AI Claude.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026

Researchers have developed a prototype called MultiQ-IT that can process large numbers of molecules at the same time.

From Science Daily • Mar. 25, 2026

Researchers said that within the next year they hope to have a prototype kit to detect early stage breast cancer using a lateral flow urine sample.

From BBC • Mar. 5, 2026

Attached to this building, which Mr. Gonzalez referred to as “the brain center,” was that factory, a bamlike prototype of an airplane hangar.

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

Related Words

• mock-up
• model
• precursor