prototype

[ proh-tuh-tahyp ]
/ ˈproʊ təˌtaɪp /

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.

Origin of prototype

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

OTHER WORDS FROM prototype

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

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH prototype

archetype prototype

Example sentences from the Web for prototype

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

Medical definitions for prototype

prototype
[ prōtə-tīp′ ]

n.

A primitive or ancestral form or species.