prototype
Meaningthe first pattern
Common meaning: a first model
- protfirst, foremostLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 707 · scan
- typa blow; the mark it leaves; a patternLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 824 · scan
‘first, foremost’ + ‘a blow’ → prototype
Journey through time
- prot — Greek πρῶτος “first, foremost” (path traced)
- typ — Ancient Greek τύπος (túpos) “a blow; the mark it leaves; a pattern” (path traced)
Parts join in Latin as prototypum.
- Greekπρῶτος + τύπος (túpos)‘first, foremost + a blow’
- Latinprototypum
- Frenchprototype
- Englishprototype‘a first model’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek πρῶτος ‘first, foremost’ + Ancient Greek τύπος (túpos) ‘a blow; the mark it leaves; a pattern’.
Did you know (Greek typos first…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry τύπος (túpos), p. 824 · dictionary scan
Did you know (Greek protos, first,…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry πρῶτος, p. 707 · dictionary scan
Roots
- πρῶτος Greek “first, foremost”
- τύπος (túpos) Ancient Greek “a blow; the mark it leaves; a pattern”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app