archetype meaning

[ˈɑːkɪtaɪp]

[ˈɑɹkɪtaɪp]

WArchetype

The concept of an archetype /ˈɑrkɪtaɪp/ is found in areas relating to behavior, modern psychological theory, and literary analysis. An archetype can be
a statement, pattern of behavior, or prototype which other statements, patterns of behavior, and objects copy or emulate;
a Platonic philosophical idea referring to pure forms which embody the fundamental characteristics of a thing;
a collectively-inherited unconscious idea, pattern of thought, image, etc., that is universally present in individual psyches, as in Jungian psychology;

Definition of archetype in English Dictionary

NounPLarchetypesPREarché-SUF-type
1. An original model of which all other similar persons, objects, or concepts are merely derivative, copied, patterned, or emulated; a prototype.
VerbSGarchetypesPRarchetypingPT, PParchetyped
1. To depict as, model using or otherwise associate a subject or object with an archetype.
  1. His collaborator was Robert Singer, a professor of English and film studies at Kingsborough Community College, who lamented this week that he and his fellow Brooklynites "have been archetyped to death."
More Examples
1. Used in the Middle of Sentence
  - However, our direct dynamics simulations from two archetype 1D oscillator systems with quite different phonon dispersions here appear to support the nonuniversality.
  - Even though the concept is new to public scrutiny, pundits recognize that the web celeb archetype is profoundly affecting conventional media.