type English · revision 3683

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1470 (Henryson)|origins=grc τύπτω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /taɪp/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|type|t=symbol]], [[bor|la|typus|t=figure, image, form, kind]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) perhaps through Late Latin or French,^(AHD 2000)^(COED 2004) [[bor|grc|τύπος|tr=túpos|t=a blow, dent, impression; figure, image, model]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) from the root of [[m|grc|τύπτω|tr=túptō|t=to strike, beat]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002) Barnhart and Merriam-Webster compare Sanskrit tupáti, “he hurts”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) and Klein and Etymonline derive the root from [[ine-pro|*(s)tup-|t=to strike, cut]], a variant of [[m|ine-pro|*(s)teu-|t=to push, knock, beat]].^(Klein 1966)^(Etymonline) The same root is in Latin [[m|la|stupēre|t=to be stunned]], the source of [[stupid]].^(Klein 1966)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A symbol or emblem: about 1470, in Robert Henryson's ''Moral Fables of Aesop'';^(Barnhart 1988) in theology, an Old Testament figure foreshadowing a person or event of the New Testament.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A figure or picture of something is recorded from 1559 to 1774,^(HTOED) and a distinguishing mark from 1595.^(HTOED) In medicine, from the early 17th century, it was the characteristic pattern of a fever.^(SOED 2002) The sense “small block with a raised letter for printing” is, as Barnhart remarks, curiously not recorded before 1713,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and printed characters collectively are ''type'' from 1778^(HTOED) or 1784.^(Etymonline) The general form or character common to a class appears in 1843, in John Stuart Mill's ''System of Logic'', and “a kind or class” in 1854,^(Barnhart 1988) senses that the Latin and Greek words already had.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The verb meant “to foreshadow” from 1596^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) and “to typify” from the 1620s;^(Etymonline) “to write with a typewriter” is a shortening of ''typewrite'' recorded in 1888,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and “to typecast” is from 1933.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1470 – a symbol, emblem (Henryson).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1596 – verb, to foreshadow.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1620s – verb, to typify.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1713 – a printing type.^(Barnhart 1988)^(HTOED)

+ * 1784 – printed characters.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1843 – the general form common to a class (Mill).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1854 – a kind or class.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1888 – verb, to typewrite.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1933 – verb, to typecast.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A group of people or things sharing traits that set them apart as a class.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The general character or structure common to such a group.^(AHD)

+ # A person or thing that has the features of a group; an example or model.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(informal)'' A person of a particular kind: ''not my type''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A small block with a raised letter or character, used in [[printing]]; such blocks, or printed characters, collectively.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(theology)'' A figure that [[prefigure|alt=prefigures]] a later one.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(biology)'' The specimen on which the name of a [[species]] or [[genus]] is based.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To write with a [[typewriter]] or keyboard.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To determine the type of a blood or tissue sample.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To [[typecast]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To represent or [[typify]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(theology)'' To prefigure.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[typeable]]

+ * [[typist]]

+ * [[pretype]]

+ * [[retype]]

+ * [[typebar]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[typical]]

+ * [[typify]]

+ * [[typography]]

+ * [[typewriter]]

+ * [[stereotype]]

+ * [[prototype]]

+ * [[archetype]]

+ * [[stupid]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary compares ''type'' with ''kind'', ''sort'', ''nature'', ''character'' and ''ilk'': in strict use ''type'' implies that the members of a group share their traits so closely that the group stands out clearly.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}