blueprint

American  

[bloo-print] / ˈbluˌprɪnt /

noun

1. a process of photographic 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

Explanation

A blueprint is a guide for making something — it's a design or pattern that can be followed. Want to build the best tree house ever? Draw up a blueprint and follow the design carefully. The literal meaning of a blueprint is a paper — which is blue — with plans for a building printed on it. You can also call other guides or plans blueprints. The way you do your homework every night could provide a blueprint for your little sister’s study habits. A business plan is a blueprint for a profitable business. Religions and philosophies provide the blueprint for many people’s lives. A blueprint helps you figure out what to do.

Example Sentences

It is also, she points out, part of the geopolitical blueprint that the administration laid out last fall.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 11, 2026

For me, it really created this blueprint of hope.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

"This fossil documents the Cambrian origin of chelicerates," noted Lerosey-Aubril, "and shows that the anatomical blueprint of spiders and horseshoe crabs was already emerging 500 million years ago."

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026

With the sides still far apart and a deadline looming, the league’s goal is to avoid a repeat of 2012 by crafting a blueprint based on lessons learned from everything that went wrong.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

In a manual of general principles and rules that served as a blueprint for the industry, Pinkerton admitted that the detective must at times “depart from the strict line of truth” and “resort to deception.”

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

Related Words

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