pattern

[ pat-ern; British pat-n ]

/ ˈpæt ərn; British ˈpæt n /

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See synonyms for: pattern / patterned / patterning / patterns on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

decoration or ornament having such a design.

a natural or chance marking, configuration, or design: patterns of frost on the window.

a distinctive style, model, or form: a new pattern of army helmet.

a combination of qualities, acts, tendencies, etc., forming a consistent or characteristic arrangement: the behavior patterns of teenagers.

an original or model considered for or deserving of imitation: Our constitution has been a pattern for those of many new republics.

anything fashioned or designed to serve as a model or guide for something to be made: a paper pattern for a dress.

a sufficient quantity of material for making a garment.

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

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

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

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

an example, instance, sample, or specimen.

Gunnery, Aerial Bombing.

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

verb (used with object)

to make or fashion after or according to a pattern.

to cover or mark with a pattern.

Chiefly British Dialect.

to imitate.
to attempt to match or duplicate.

verb (used without object)

to make or fall into a pattern.

OTHER WORDS FOR pattern

1 figure.

4 kind, sort.

6 example, exemplar.

See synonyms for pattern on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of pattern

1325–75; Middle English patron<Medieval Latin patrōnus model, special use of Latin patrōnuspatron

OTHER WORDS FROM pattern

pat·tern·a·ble, adjectivepatterned, adjectivepat·tern·er, nounpat·tern·less, adjective

pat·tern·like, adjectivepat·tern·y, adjectivenon·pat·terned, adjectivere·pat·tern, verb (used with object)sem·i·pat·terned, adjectivesub·pat·tern, nounun·pat·terned, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pattern in a sentence

Each source had some fixed probability of emitting a signal that you picked up, and together those sources generated the pattern in your data.
Can You Cover The Globe?|Zach Wissner-Gross|August 28, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
By the time puberty ended, the adopted children showed normal cortisol patterns before, during and after a stressful task.
Puberty may reboot the brain and behaviors|Esther Landhuis|August 27, 2020|Science News For Students
Subseasonal forecasts are more likely to be accurate when an MJO is happening because there is a major global weather pattern that will affect weather elsewhere in the coming weeks.
Improved three-week weather forecasts could save lives from disaster|Alexandra Witze|August 27, 2020|Science News
The researchers then drilled down into individual voting patterns for Washington and Utah.
Mandatory mail-in voting hurts neither Democratic nor Republican candidates|Sujata Gupta|August 26, 2020|Science News

There might also be patterns of gravity waves they haven’t seen yet.
Could ripples in spacetime point to wormholes?|Emily Conover|August 24, 2020|Science News For Students
But he resembled by then an ancient Red Indian chief, and his expressions did not follow the patterns of other mortals.
The Stacks: How The Berlin Wall Inspired John le Carré’s First Masterpiece|John le Carré|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Music aficionados recognize this rhythm as a triplet or “hemiola”: the playing of two different musical patterns simultaneously.
The Goldilocks of Black Holes|Matthew R. Francis|August 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After a lifetime of dealing with the stress of ADHD, it can be hard to give up old patterns and let go of painful memories.
Adult Women Are the New Face of ADHD|Rae Jacobson|June 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Americans even segregate politically, leading to 90-10 voting patterns in thousands of precincts.
It’s Time for Obama to Heed McChrystal’s Call for the ‘Service Year’|Jonathan Alter|June 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
By the time the police caught up to Sanders, they knew even more about his patterns and practices.
The Supreme Court Must Right the Wrong Done to Billy Wayne Cope|Andrew Cohen|June 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Their bills were based on the pounds weight delivered, and new designs necessitated new patterns and new troubles.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2)|Francis Trevithick
She had no patterns to copy; but her imagination wandered through the green fields and by the murmuring brooks of her rural home.
Madame Roland, Makers of History|John S. C. Abbott
Never were such patterns of neatness seen as these old ladies and their houses.
Little Travels and Roadside Sketches|William Makepeace Thackeray
Such cases as were mentioned to the Committee followed previously recognized patterns.
Report of the Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents|Oswald Chettle Mazengarb et al.
The uppers are cut by hand from the engraved sheets, while metal patterns are used on the plain stock.
The Wonder Book of Knowledge|Various

British Dictionary definitions for pattern (1 of 2)

pattern¹

/ (ˈpætən) /

noun

an arrangement of repeated or corresponding parts, decorative motifs, etcalthough the notes seemed random, a careful listener could detect a pattern

a decorative designa paisley pattern

a stylevarious patterns of cutlery

a plan or diagram used as a guide in making somethinga paper pattern for a dress

a standard way of moving, acting, etctraffic patterns

a model worthy of imitationa pattern of kindness

a representative sample

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

the arrangement of marks made in a target by bullets
a diagram displaying such an arrangement

verb (tr)

(often foll by after or on) to model

to arrange as or decorate with a pattern

Word Origin for pattern

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

British Dictionary definitions for pattern (2 of 2)

pattern²

patron

/ (ˈpætərn) /

noun

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

Word Origin for pattern

C18: variant of patron 1; see pattern 1

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

pattern

OTHER WORDS FOR pattern

Origin of pattern

OTHER WORDS FROM pattern

Words related to pattern

How to use pattern in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pattern (1 of 2)

Word Origin for pattern

British Dictionary definitions for pattern (2 of 2)

patron

Word Origin for pattern