archetype
the original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on which they are based; a model or first form; prototype.
(in Jungian psychology) a collectively inherited unconscious idea, pattern of thought, image, etc., universally present in individual psyches.
Origin of archetype
1Other words from archetype
- ar·che·typ·al, ar·che·typ·i·cal [ahr-ki-tip-i-kuhl], /ˌɑr kɪˈtɪp ɪ kəl/, ar·che·typ·ic, adjective
- ar·che·typ·al·ly, ar·che·typ·i·cal·ly, adverb
Words that may be confused with archetype
- archetype , prototype
Words Nearby archetype
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use archetype in a sentence
Now the 45-year-old Singh is plotting the ultimate socialist insurrection in a land that in many ways is a capitalist archetype, with low taxes and a business environment that companies rate as among the friendliest in the world.
I’m not the kind of viewer who tries to guess what’s around each narrative corner, but this show’s fidelity to familiar archetypes and other genre tropes made it hard not to do so—and I was almost always right.
Multiple players who fit that archetype will also make it easier for the Warriors to trot out their small-ball units with Green at center — lineups they had a tough time getting to last year, especially while James Wiseman was healthy.
Which NBA Teams Are Making The Same Free Agency Moves, And Which Ones Are Mixing It Up? | Jared Dubin | August 4, 2021 | FiveThirtyEightReminiscent of the curved dabs in Cafritz’s abstractions, the beads link photography to painting, and organic archetypes to invented ones.
In the galleries: A multi-sensory exhibit with cherry blossoms and a dire warning | Mark Jenkins | July 30, 2021 | Washington PostMore than a new spin on an old set of archetypes, it’s the most deliciously dark entry in a wave of series and films that capture the unvarnished drudgery of assistants, agents and other decidedly unglamorous entertainment-industry cogs.
Flack Is the Most Delectable in a New Wave of Shows About the Workaholics Who Make Hollywood Run | Judy Berman | June 11, 2021 | Time
Your main character breaks free from the archetype of the African-American novel: David is not black.
The calavera, or decorated skull, is an archetype of Mexican popular culture.
Roll Royce—you would expect nothing less from such a British archetype, right?
By Ann Friedman, Medium The first step is, throw out the hoodie-wearing boy-genius and build a new archetype.
The Daily Beast’s Best Longreads, Sept. 29-Oct 5, 2014 | William Boot | October 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI believe an archetype was born in those years, that of the doughty British woman—proud, opinionated, but with a heart of gold.
Similarly, the One is the higher archetype of the intellectual power which moves around Him, being His image.
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 3 | Plotinos (Plotinus)And nevertheless, by their unity all these things imitate the same archetype, some from far, some from near.
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 3 | Plotinos (Plotinus)archetype, rk′e-tīp, n. the original pattern or model, a prototype.
Greek culture must be distinguished as the archetype; and it must be shown how all culture rests upon shaky conceptions.
We Philologists, Volume 8 (of 18) | Friedrich NietzscheRemember that whatever paternal wisdom or maternal tenderness we have ever known here, has its source and archetype on high.
The Hearth-Stone | Samuel Osgood
British Dictionary definitions for archetype
/ (ˈɑːkɪˌtaɪp) /
a perfect or typical specimen
an original model or pattern; prototype
psychoanal one of the inherited mental images postulated by Jung as the content of the collective unconscious
a constantly recurring symbol or motif in literature, painting, etc
Origin of archetype
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for archetype
[ (ahr-ki-teyep) ]
An original model after which other similar things are patterned. In the psychology of Carl Jung, archetypes are the images, patterns, and symbols (see also symbol) that rise out of the collective unconscious and appear in dreams, mythology, and fairy tales.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Browse