monotype

¹

[ mon-uh-tahyp ]

noun

1. the only print made from a metal or glass plate on which a picture is painted in oil color, printing ink, or the like.
2. the method of producing such a print.
3. Biology. the only type of its group, as a single species constituting a genus.

Monotype

²

[ mon-uh-tahyp ]

Printing, Trademark.

1. a brand of machine for setting and casting type, consisting of a separate keyboard for producing a paper tape containing holes in a coded pattern so that when this tape is fed into the casting unit each code evokes a unique letter cast from hot metal by a special matrix.

monotype

¹

/ ˈmɒnəˌtaɪp /

noun

1. a single print made from a metal or glass plate on which a picture has been painted
2. biology a monotypic genus or species

Monotype

²

/ ˈmɒnəˌtaɪp /

noun

1. any of various typesetting systems, esp originally one in which each character was cast individually from hot metal
2. type produced by such a system

Word History and Origins

Origin of monotype¹

First recorded in 1880–85; mono- + -type

Example Sentences

You go back to the Monotype room and get a bunch of slugs and leads and saw them up to fill the cases.

From Project Gutenberg

It will be seen, therefore, that the casting portion of the monotype machine is actually automatic.

From Project Gutenberg

Now, the genus Zea is not only a monotype, but stands almost alone in its family.

From Project Gutenberg

Two distinctive styles of these machines are now extensively used—the Linotype and the Monotype.

From Project Gutenberg

The reason why the machine is called a monotype is that the letters are made one at a time, and monos is the Greek word for one.

From Project Gutenberg