exemplar

[ig-zem-pler, -plahr]

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noun

a model or pattern to be copied or imitated: Washington is the exemplar of patriotic virtue.

a typical example or instance.

an original or archetype: Plato thought nature but a copy of ideal exemplars.

a copy of a book or text.

Origin of exemplar

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin, variant of exemplāre, noun use of neuter of exemplāris exemplary; replacing Middle English exaumplere < Middle French examplaire < Latin exemplāris

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for exemplar

epitome, paragon, archetype, prototype, pattern, specimen, copy, illustration, standard, instance, criterion, model, paradigm, type, example, mirror, exemplification

Examples from the Web for exemplar

Contemporary Examples of exemplar

The novel is simultaneously a celebration and an exemplar of the joys of storytelling.
American Dreams, 1973: The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Nathaniel Rich
August 28, 2013
Those who loved Pete will miss him desperately, and cherish his memory as an exemplar of integrity, courage, and grace under fire.
Peter Worthington, 1927-2013
David Frum
May 13, 2013
But by what stretch of imagination was he an exemplar of “heroic virtue,” as the Vatican has just decreed?
The Pope's Big Holocaust Lie
James Carroll
December 23, 2009

Historical Examples of exemplar

The principle of these two young ladies is proposed as an exemplar to her sex.
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
No mention now of the Eurasian exemplar, the synthetic "over-man."
Dreamers of the Ghetto
I. Zangwill
It might be truthfully said of her, that she was an exemplar for all who knew her.
Oration on the Life and Character of Henry Winter Davis
John A. J. Creswell
But its development was scarcely appreciable, from lack of opportunity and of exemplar.
Four Years in Rebel Capitals
T. C. DeLeon
Who would expect Sir Sidney Lee to have had so remote an exemplar?
A Boswell of Baghdad
E. V. Lucas

British Dictionary definitions for exemplar

exemplar

noun

a person or thing to be copied or imitated; model

a typical specimen or instance; example

a copy of a book or text on which further printings have been based

Word Origin for exemplar

C14: from Latin exemplarium model, from exemplum example

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for exemplar

late 14c., "original model of the universe in the mind of God," later (mid-15c.) "model of virtue," from Old French exemplaire (14c.) and directly from Late Latin exemplarium, from Latin exemplum (see example).