archetype

Fetched 2026-10-26 (cache).

Synonyms: architype, archtype, archetypal, archetypes, archetypic

Antonyms: architype, archtype, archetypal, archetypes, archetypic

Related words from Datamuse; suggestions, not definitions.

Noun

An [[original#Adjective|original]] [[model#Noun|model]] of which all other similar [[concept]]s, [[object#Noun|objects]], or [[person]]s are merely [[copy#Verb|copied]], [[derivative#Adjective|derivative]], [[emulate]]d, or [[pattern#Verb|patterned]]. {{defdate|from mid 16th c.}}
An [[ideal#Adjective|ideal]] [[example]] of something; a [[quintessence]].
{{lb|en|literature}} A [[character]], object, or [[story]] that is [[base#Verb|based]] on a known character, object, or story.
{{lb|en|psychology}} According to [[Swiss]] [[psychologist]] {{w|Carl Jung}}: a [[universal]] [[pattern#Noun|pattern]] of [[thought#Noun|thought]], present in an [[individual#Noun|individual]]'s [[unconscious#Noun|unconscious]], [[inherit]]ed from the [[past#Adjective|past]] [[collective#Adjective|collective]] [[experience#Noun|experience]] of [[humanity]].
{{lb|en|textual criticism}} A {{l|en|protograph||original [[manuscript]] of a [[text]] from which all further copies derive}}.

To [[depict]] as, [[model#Verb|model]] using, or otherwise [[associate#Verb|associate]] an [[object#Noun|object]] or [[subject#Noun|subject]] with an [[#Noun|archetype]].

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wiktionary dump) · cached copy, not a rewrite.