exemplum
Americannoun
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an example or model.
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an anecdote that illustrates or supports a moral point, as in a medieval sermon.
noun
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an anecdote that supports a moral point or sustains an argument, used esp in medieval sermons
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an example or illustration
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of exemplum
1885–90; < Late Latin, Latin: literally, a pattern, model, copy
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It has a palace standing in extensive grounds, a gymnasium, a normal seminary, a library, a synagogue, and three churches, one of which has the appropriate inscription, Religionis non structurae exemplum.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" by Various
The esteem in which tyrannicide was held at Florence is proved by the erection of Donatello's Judith in 1495, at the gate of the Palazzo Pubblico, with this inscription, exemplum salutis publicæ cives posuere.
From Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 (of 7) The Age of the Despots by Symonds, John Addington
This exemplum is known in many countries and in many forms.
From Filipino Popular Tales by Fansler, Dean Spruill
For England we may say of this case—Transeat in exemplum!
From The Posthumous Works of Thomas De Quincey, Vol. 1 by Japp, Alexander H. (Alexander Hay)
The exemplum is obviously a stock means of rhetoric.
From Rhetoric and Poetry in the Renaissance A Study of Rhetorical Terms in English Renaissance Literary Criticism by Clark, Donald Lemen
A similar collection was written in the north of England, as well as a large body of homilies showing considerable poetic skill, and abounding in exempla or illustrative stories.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 6 "English Language" to "Epsom Salts" by Various
On the whole subject of exempla see the Introduction to T. F. Crane’s edition of the Exempla of Jacques de Vitry, and the references given there.
From Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535 by Power, Eileen
Remarks.—Almost all Alfonsi's exempla are from the East.
From More English Fairy Tales by Batten, John Dickson
The first treatise is profusely illustrated throughout by exempla taken from Caesarius of Heisterbach and similar sources and makes lively reading.
From Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535 by Power, Eileen
Latin, 146, with "exempla," 154, English, 205 ff., in Chaucer, 335, 354, in Langland, 387, by Wyclif, 434.
From A Literary History of the English People From the Origins to the Renaissance by Jusserand, Jean Jules
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
