prototype

[ proh-tuh-tahyp ]

/ ˈproʊ təˌtaɪp /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR prototype 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.

Nearby words

protostele, protostome, prototherian, prototroph, prototrophic, prototype, protovertebra, protoxide, protoxylem, protozoa, protozoan

Origin of prototype

1595–1605; < New Latin prōtotypon < Greek prōtótypon, noun use of neuter of prōtótypos original. See proto-, type

SYNONYMS FOR prototype

1 pattern.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR prototype ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

pro·to·typ·al, pro·to·typ·i·cal

[proh-tuh-tip-i-kuhl] /ˌproʊ təˈtɪp ɪ kəl/, pro·to·typ·ic, adjectivepro·to·typ·i·cal·ly, adverb

Can be confused

archetype prototype

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for prototype

The FC-31 prototype was hidden except when it was flying, and not much detail was available.
How China Will Track—and Kill—America’s Newest Stealth Jets|Bill Sweetman|December 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The prototype Land Rover was designed by a Jeep owner and built on a Jeep chassis.
Nationalism on Four Wheels|Clive Irving|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Was I looking at the real me or just a reflection in the funhouse mirror of my prototype iPhone 6?
Aubrey Plaza’s Great Disconnect|Aubrey Plaza|August 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The 1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt was produced in five different colors during its prototype tour, and the cars were later sold.
Dreaming Up the Cars of the Future|Justin Jones|July 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST

In 2009, the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) awarded Solar Roadways a contract to construct a prototype.
Pave the Roads With Solar Panels?|The Daily Beast|June 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The words and sentences which are supplied are very carefully chosen, and most of them have a prototype somewhere in the poem.
The Translations of Beowulf|Chauncey Brewster Tinker
Colonel Yule suspects that its prototype may have been the semi-Christian kingdom of Abyssinia.
The Discovery of America Vol. 1 (of 2)|John Fiske.
The frogs in this phyletic line retained the moderate size of the prototype and did not develop additional dermal bone.
Neotropical Hylid Frogs, Genus Smilisca|William E. Duellman
She was deified and took the place of a goddess, apparently Nina, the prototype of Derceto.
Myths of Babylonia and Assyria|Donald A. Mackenzie
The clavichord retained the box shape of its prototype, the monochord.
How to Appreciate Music|Gustav Kobb

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

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

prototype

noun

verb (used with object), pro·to·typed, pro·to·typ·ing.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of prototype

SYNONYMS FOR prototype

Related forms

Can be confused

Examples from the Web for prototype

British Dictionary definitions for prototype

prototype

noun

Derived Forms

Medicine definitions for prototype

prototype

n.