blueprint

American  

[bloo-print] / ˈbluˌprɪnt /

noun

1. a process of photographic printing, printing, used chiefly in copying architectural and mechanical drawings, which produces a white line on a blue background.

2. a print made by this process.

3. a detailed outline or plan of action.

   a blueprint for success.

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verb (used with object)

1. to make a blueprint of or for.

blueprint British  

/ ˈbluːˌprɪnt /

noun

1. Also called: cyanotype.  a photographic print of plans, technical drawings, etc, consisting of white lines on a blue background

2. an original plan or prototype that influences subsequent design or practice

   the Montessori method was the blueprint for education in the 1940s

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verb

1. (tr) to make a blueprint of (a plan)

Other Word Forms

• blueprinter noun

Etymology

Origin of blueprint

First recorded in 1885–90; blue + print

Example Sentences

“The blueprint has been drawn up,” Xi said.

From The Wall Street Journal

Inside the pancreatic tissue of these fish, the team found the genetic blueprint for unidentified hormones.

From The Wall Street Journal

Capital Maritime gave the MIT team the blueprints of the Manzanillo Express, a containership, so they could create and test a computer model of a ship retrofitted with nuclear propulsion.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Navy’s acquisition bureaucracy demanded so many changes that it defeated the purpose of having a blueprint.

From The Wall Street Journal

Grinches, by contrast, are more likely to be working actors like Darnell, who look reverently to Carrey’s performance as a blueprint for the character’s slapstick antics and snarky reads.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• draft
• game plan
• master plan
• model
• prototype
• scheme
• sketch