model

[mod-l]

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noun

a standard or example for imitation or comparison.

a representation, generally in miniature, to show the construction or appearance of something.

an image in clay, wax, or the like, to be reproduced in more durable material.

a person or thing that serves as a subject for an artist, sculptor, writer, etc.

a person whose profession is posing for artists or photographers.

a person employed to wear clothing or pose with a product for purposes of display and advertising.

a style or design of a particular product: His car is last year's model.

a pattern or mode of structure or formation.

a typical form or style.

a simplified representation of a system or phenomenon, as in the sciences or economics, with any hypotheses required to describe the system or explain the phenomenon, often mathematically.

Zoology. an animal that is mimicked in form or color by another.

adjective

serving as an example or model: a model home open to prospective buyers.

worthy to serve as a model; exemplary: a model student.

being a small or miniature version of something: He enjoyed building model ships.

verb (used with object), mod·eled, mod·el·ing or (especially British) mod·elled, mod·el·ling.

to form or plan according to a model.

to give shape or form to; fashion.

to make a miniature model of.

to fashion in clay, wax, or the like.

to simulate (a process, concept, or the operation of a system), commonly with the aid of a computer.

to display to other persons or to prospective customers, especially by wearing: to model dresses.

to use or include as an element in a larger construct: to model new data into the forecast.

verb (used without object), mod·eled, mod·el·ing or (especially British) mod·elled, mod·el·ling.

to make models.

to produce designs in some plastic material.

to assume a typical or natural appearance, as the parts of a drawing in progress.

to serve or be employed as a model.

Origin of model

1565–75; earlier modell < Middle French modelle < Italian modello < Vulgar Latin *modellus, equivalent to Latin mod(ulus) (see module) + -ellus -elle

Related formsmod·el·er; especially British, mod·el·ler, nounpre·mod·el, verb (used without object), pre·mod·eled, pre·mod·el·ing or (especially British) pre·mod·elled, pre·mod·el·ling.un·mod·eled, adjectiveun·mod·elled, adjective

Synonyms for model

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR model ON THESAURUS.COM

1. paragon; prototype, archetype, mold, original. 16. design.

Synonym study

1. See ideal.

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

Related Words for model

miniature, exemplary, picture, photograph, figure, image, portrait, copy, painting, pattern, symbol, ideal, design, prototype, type, original, style, form, variety, kind

Examples from the Web for model

Contemporary Examples of model

If the Israel model ban were directed towards disordered eating, Ravin says she would support it whole-heartedly.
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models
Carrie Arnold
January 8, 2015
They are model citizens, the kind of people whose lives might be used as exemplary stories by a politician in a stump speech.
The 2014 Novel of the Year
Nathaniel Rich
December 29, 2014
Banking malware and certain “crimeware” kits have been using this model for years.
No, North Korea Didn’t Hack Sony
Marc Rogers
December 24, 2014
On the cover, Wonder Woman resembles a 16-year-old model doing a pee-pee dance.
Wonder Woman Takes a Big Step Back
Hugh Ryan
December 16, 2014
It involved a model of the tower set on its side for the shot.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days
David Freeman
December 13, 2014

Historical Examples of model

One might have been a model for the seraphs of Christian faith, the other an Olympian deity.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
It was jestingly said that the model for the Odeum was from his own head.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
It has also passed a model child-labor law for the District of Columbia.
United States Presidents' Inaugural Speeches
Various
He produced the model of an ingenious contrivance for grinding corn.
Biographical Sketches
Nathaniel Hawthorne
But remember, there is a model which must be taken even before that of your father.
Life in London
Edwin Hodder

British Dictionary definitions for model

model

noun

a representation, usually on a smaller scale, of a device, structure, etc
(as modifier)a model train

a standard to be imitatedshe was my model for good scholarship
(as modifier)a model wife

a representative form, style, or pattern

a person who poses for a sculptor, painter, or photographer

a person who wears clothes to display them to prospective buyers; mannequin

a preparatory sculpture in clay, wax, etc, from which the finished work is copied

a design or style, esp one of a series of designs of a particular productlast year's model

British

an original unique article of clothing
(as modifier)a model coat

a simplified representation or description of a system or complex entity, esp one designed to facilitate calculations and predictions

logic

an interpretation of a formal system under which the theorems derivable in that system are mapped onto truths
a theory in which a given sentence is true

verb -els, -elling or -elled or US -els, -eling or -eled

to make a model of (something or someone)

to form in clay, wax, etc; mould

to display (clothing and accessories) as a mannequin

to plan or create according to a model or models

to arrange studio lighting so that highlights and shadows emphasize the desired features of a human form or an inanimate object

Derived Formsmodeller or US modeler, noun

Word Origin for model

C16: from Old French modelle, from Italian modello, from Latin modulus, diminutive of modus mode

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 model

1570s, "likeness made to scale; architect's set of designs," from Middle French modelle (16c., Modern French modèle), from Italian modello "a model, mold," from Vulgar Latin *modellus, from Latin modulus "a small measure, standard," diminutive of modus "manner, measure" (see mode (n.1)).

Sense of "thing or person to be imitated" is 1630s. Meaning "motor vehicle of a particular design" is from 1900 (e.g. Model T, 1908; Ford's other early models included C, F, and B). Sense of "artist's model" is first recorded 1690s; that of "fashion model" is from 1904. German, Swedish modell, Dutch, Danish model are from French or Italian.

1660s, "fashion in clay or wax," from model (n.). Earlier was modelize (c.1600). From 1915 in the sense "to act as a fashion model, to display (clothes)." Related: Modeled; modeling; modelled; modelling.

adj.

1844, from model (n.).

model in Science

model

[mŏd′l]

A systematic description of an object or phenomenon that shares important characteristics with the object or phenomenon. Scientific models can be material, visual, mathematical, or computational and are often used in the construction of scientific theories. See also hypothesis theory.