pattern

[pat-ern, pat-n]

noun

1. a decorative design, as for wallpaper, china, or textile fabrics, etc.

   Synonyms: figure

2. decoration or ornament having such a design.

3. a natural or chance marking, configuration, or design.

   patterns of frost on the window.

4. a distinctive style, model, or form.

   a new pattern of army helmet.

   Synonyms: sort, kind

5. a combination of qualities, acts, tendencies, etc., forming a consistent or characteristic arrangement.

   the behavior patterns of teenagers.

6. an original or model considered for or deserving of imitation.

   Our constitution has been a pattern for those of many new republics.

   Synonyms: exemplar, example

7. anything fashioned or designed to serve as a model or guide for something to be made.

   a paper pattern for a dress.

8. a sufficient quantity of material for making a garment.

9. the path of flight established for an aircraft approaching an airport at which it is to land.

10. a diagram of lines transmitted occasionally by a television station to aid in adjusting receiving sets; test pattern.

11. Metallurgy.,  a model or form, usually of wood or metal, used for giving the shape of the interior of a mold.

12. Numismatics.,  a coin, either the redesign of an existing piece or the model for a new one, submitted for authorization as a regular issue.

13. an example, instance, sample, or specimen.

14. Gunnery, Aerial Bombing.

    1. the distribution of strikes around a target at which artillery rounds have been fired or on which bombs have been dropped.

    2. a diagram showing such distribution.

verb (used with object)

1. to make or fashion after or according to a pattern.

2. to cover or mark with a pattern.

3. Chiefly British Dialect.

   1. to imitate.

   2. to attempt to match or duplicate.

verb (used without object)

1. to make or fall into a pattern.

pattern

¹

/ ˈpætən /

noun

1. an arrangement of repeated or corresponding parts, decorative motifs, etc

   although the notes seemed random, a careful listener could detect a pattern

2. a decorative design

   a paisley pattern

3. a style

   various patterns of cutlery

4. a plan or diagram used as a guide in making something

   a paper pattern for a dress

5. a standard way of moving, acting, etc

   traffic patterns

6. a model worthy of imitation

   a pattern of kindness

7. a representative sample

8. a wooden or metal shape or model used in a foundry to make a mould

9. 1. the arrangement of marks made in a target by bullets

   2. a diagram displaying such an arrangement

verb

1. to model

2. to arrange as or decorate with a pattern

pattern

²

/ ˈpætərn /

noun

1. an outdoor assembly with religious practices, traders' stalls, etc on the feast day of a patron saint

Other Word Forms

• patternable adjective
• patterned adjective
• patterner noun
• patternless adjective
• patternlike adjective
• patterny adjective
• nonpatterned adjective
• repattern verb (used with object)
• semipatterned adjective
• subpattern noun
• unpatterned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pattern¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English patron, from Medieval Latin patrōnus “model,” special use of Latin patrōnus “legal protector, advocate”; patron

Word History and Origins

Origin of pattern¹

C14 patron, from Medieval Latin patrōnus example, from Latin: _patron ¹

Origin of pattern²

C18: variant of _patron ¹ ; see _pattern ¹

Example Sentences

“We expect familiar patterns to repeat in September inflation data,” writes Veronica Clark, an economist at Citi.

Read more on Barron's

The action, the people noted, is part of a pattern of China responding to what it perceives as feeble actions from Washington with disproportionately strong moves.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Current AI tools are trained on mountains of data and are good at spotting patterns: whether tumour signs in scans or the word most likely to come after another in a particular sequence.

Read more on BBC

Their approach broke from the drawn-out, detail-driven pattern of traditional Middle East negotiations, which often devolved into zero-sum battles, analysts say.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

As he settled into the position, Brown began to notice a pattern among some of the students sent his way.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• kind 
• method 
• sequence 
• shape 
• sort 
• style 
• system 
• type 
• variety