Etymologically
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archetype

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɑːkɪtaɪp/ (UK); /ˈɑɹkɪtaɪp/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin archetypum (“an original”), possibly through Middle French archétype,[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek ἀρχέτυπον (arkhétupon, “pattern, model”), the neuter of ἀρχέτυπος (arkhétupos, “first-moulded, original”),[2][3][6][4][7] from ἀρχε- (arkhe-, “first”) (see arch-) and τύπος (túpos, “blow, impression, mould”) (see type).[2][3][6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The original pattern from which copies are made (1545 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster; 1599 in the OED).[3][4][8][6]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the Greek word was also used of the figure on a seal.[6] Johnson (1755) defines it as the original of which any likeness is made.[9] In Platonism an archetype is one of the ideas of which existing things are imitations.[10] In comparative anatomy it was an assumed ideal pattern of the structure of a group of organisms (1849).[8] The Jungian sense, a pervasive image or symbol forming part of the collective unconscious, dates from 1919.[6][8] It is also used of a recurring symbol or motif in literature and art,[5] and in textual criticism of the original manuscript from which all copies derive.[11]

Timeline

  • 1545 – original pattern or model.[3][4]
  • 1599 – first quotation in the OED.[8]
  • 1849 – in comparative anatomy.[8]
  • 1919 – in Jung's psychology.[8][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An original model or pattern on which later things of the same kind are based; a prototype.
  2. A perfect or typical example of something; a quintessence.
  3. (psychology) In the psychology of Carl Jung, an inherited idea or image present in the unconscious of every individual.
  4. A constantly recurring symbol or motif in literature, painting or other art.

Word family

  • archetypal
  • archetypically
  • archetypally

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  10. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  11. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House