ar·che·type\ˈäkəˌtīp, ˈȧk-\
noun(
-s)
Etymology: Latin
archetypum, from Greek
archetypon, from neuter of
archetypos molded first as a model, exemplary, from
arche- + typos impression of a seal, mold, replica — more at
type
1. : the original model, form, or pattern from which something is made or from which something develops
< in … oral ballads, variation has gone so far that it is impossible to reconstruct the exact words of the archetype — M.J.C.Hodgart > < the House of Commons, the archetype of all the representative assemblies which now meet — T.B.Macaulay >2. a. in Platonism : one of the ideas of which existent things are imitations — compare
idea
1
b. in scholastic philosophy : the idea in the divine intellect that determines the form of a created thing
c. in Locke : one of the external realities with which our ideas and impressions to some extent correspond
3. a. : a primitive generalized plan of structure deduced from the characters of the members of a natural group of animals or plants and assumed to be the type from which they have been modified
b. : the original ancestor of a group of animals or plants
4. : a manuscript usually no longer extant from which others were copied
5. in the psychology of C.G.Jung : an inherited idea or mode of thought derived from the experiences of the race and present in the unconscious of the individual
6. a. : a perfectly typical example
: a perfect example of a particular type
< the archetype of his profession — stocky, thick-chested, bull-necked — New Yorker > : the most extreme example
< the archetype of the stuffy aesthetic reactionary — New York Herald Tribune > b. : an abstract or ideal conception of a type
< the various … ideals or archetypes; the gentleman, the scholar … the go-getter … the captain of industry — Walter Moberly >