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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. An original model or type after which other similar things are patterned; a prototype: "'Frankenstein' . . . 'Dracula' . . . 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' . . . the archetypes that have influenced all subsequent horror stories” ( New York Times).
  2. n. An ideal example of a type; quintessence: an archetype of successful entrepreneur.
  3. n. In Jungian psychology, an inherited pattern of thought or symbolic imagery derived from the past collective experience and present in the individual unconscious.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A model or first form; the original pattern or model after which a thing is made; especially, a Platonic idea, or immaterial preëxisting exemplar of a natural form.
  2. n. In coining, the standard weight by which others are adjusted: now called the prototype.
  3. n. In comparative anatomy, a primitive generalized plan of structure assumed to have been subsequently modified or lost by differentiation and specialization: as, the vertebrate archetype.
  4. n. The original form from which a class of related forms in plants or animals may be supposed to have descended.

Wiktionary

  1. n. An original model of which all other similar persons, objects, or concepts are merely derivative, copied, patterned, or emulated; a prototype
  2. n. literature A character, story, or object that is based on a known character, story, or object.
  3. n. An ideal example of something; a quintessence.
  4. n. psychology According to the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, a universal pattern of thought, present in an individual's unconscious, inherited from the past collective experience of humanity.
  5. v. To depict as, model using or otherwise associate a subject or object with an archetype.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. The original pattern or model of a work; or the model from which a thing is made or formed.
  2. n. (Coinage) The standard weight or coin by which others are adjusted.
  3. n. (Biol.) The plan or fundamental structure on which a natural group of animals or plants or their systems of organs are assumed to have been constructed.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. something that serves as a model or a basis for making copies

Etymologies

  1. From Old French architipe (French archétype), from Latin archetypum, from Ancient Greek ἀρχέτυπον (arkhetupon, "pattern, model") neuter of ἀρχέτυπος (arkhetupos, "first-moulded"), from ἀρχή (arkhē, "first, origin ") + τύπος (typos, "sort, type, press"). (Wiktionary)
  2. Latin archetypum, from Greek arkhetupon, from neuter of arkhetupos, original : arkhe-, arkhi-, archi- + tupos, model, stamp. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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synonyms (3)

Words with the same meaning

  1. original
  1. pattern
  1. model

hypernyms (2)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. model
  1. example

same context (6)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. exemplar
  1. groundwork
  1. myth
  1. phantasmagoria
  1. underpinnings
  1. symbolism

reverse dictionary (23)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. metacenter
  2. pretypify
  3. archicentricity
  4. archetypal
  1. archetypally
  2. archetypical
  3. archetypically
  4. archtype
  1. attypic
  2. exemplar
  3. ape-man
  4. archetype
  1. avatar
  2. ideal
  3. idea
  4. pattern
  1. original
  2. prototype
  3. trumpet marine
  4. example
  1. archicenter
  2. proveliger
  3. type

tags (4)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. -type
  1. vcccvcvcv
  1. ch sounds like k
  1. psychology

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Comments

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  • bookhling Loki/Loke might be seen as an ancient archetype of the anti-hero. Jul 17, 2008

  • samoritan Ahhh Superheros! Few genres are better suited to studying archetypes. Take Bruce Wayne... This guy has issues up the wazoo. He fights crime, but only as a panacea to escape the pain of his parent's death. The best deconstruction of the superhero mythos I've read (aside from "Watchmen") is Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns". This graphic novel has Bruce going head to head with his old nemesis Clark Kent; still regarded as the classic hero despite attempts to "flaw" his character in recent years.
    May 31, 2007

  • jennarenn Batman? What did I miss??? May 31, 2007

  • samoritan All archetypes have their roots in antiquity, but for the *most part* the anti-hero is a product of post-modernism. The anti-hero struggles with personal demons, wanting to do right but cannot rise above his faults. Holden Caulfield, Travis Bickle, Batman, Han Solo and many Clint Eastwood characters are modern anti-heros. May 31, 2007

  • seanahan Is it really a "modern" archetype? I would say throughout history there have been anti-heroes. May 29, 2007

  • samoritan The anti-hero is an interesting modern day archetype. May 29, 2007

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‘archetype’ has been looked up 6074 times, loved by 13 people, added to 81 lists, commented on 6 times, and has a Scrabble score of 19.