Dictionary.com

prototype

[ proh-tuh-tahyp ]
/ ˈproʊ təˌtaɪp /
Save This Word!
See synonyms for: prototype / prototypes on Thesaurus.com

noun
the original or model on which something is based or formed.
someone or something that serves to illustrate the typical qualities of a class; model; exemplar: She is the prototype of a student activist.
something analogous to another thing of a later period: a Renaissance prototype of our modern public housing.
Biology. an archetype; a primitive form regarded as the basis of a group.
verb (used with object), pro·to·typed, pro·to·typ·ing.
to create the prototype or an experimental model of: to prototype a solar-power car.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?

Origin of prototype

First recorded in 1595–1605; from New Latin prōtotypon, from Greek prōtótypon, noun use of neuter of prōtótypos “original”; see proto-, type

OTHER WORDS FROM prototype

pro·to·typ·i·cal [proh-tuh-tip-i-kuhl]; /ˌproʊ təˈtɪp ɪ kəl/; pro·to·typ·ic, pro·to·typ·al [proh-tuh-tip-uhl], /ˌproʊ təˈtɪp əl/, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH prototype

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

How to use prototype in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for prototype

prototype
/ (ˈprəʊtəˌtaɪp) /

noun
one of the first units manufactured of a product, which is tested so that the design can be changed if necessary before the product is manufactured commercially
a person or thing that serves as an example of a type
biology the ancestral or primitive form of a species or other group; an archetype

Derived forms of prototype

prototypal, prototypic (ˌprəʊtəˈtɪpɪk) or prototypical, adjective
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
FEEDBACK