prototype English · revision 39419

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1552, Huloet's Abcedarium|origins=grc πρωτότυπος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈpɹəʊtətaɪp/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈpɹoʊtəˌtaɪp/, /ˈpɹoʊtoʊ-/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|prototype]] and partly [[la|prōtotypus|t=original, primitive]] (also written [[m|la|prōtotypon]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026) from [[grc|πρωτότυπον|tr=prōtótupon|t=a first or primitive form]], the neuter of [[m|grc|πρωτότυπος|tr=prōtótupos|t=original, primitive]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2024)^(Klein 1966) a compound of [[m|grc|πρῶτος|tr=prôtos|t=first]] and [[m|grc|τύπος|tr=túpos|t=blow, impression, model]].^(Klein 1966)^(Etymonline) The French word is recorded in 1552,^(OED 2026) and the OED compares [[es|prototipo]] (by 1509) and [[it|prototipo]] (1598).^(OED 2026) English first used the Greek form itself, in 1596; the French-style spelling later replaced.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first or original type of something, the model from which later things are copied or derived: 1552, in Richard Huloet's ''Abcedarium Anglico Latinum''.^(OED 2026) Barnhart's earliest example is from Samuel Daniel in 1603.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ For three centuries the word meant an original or exemplar in a general, often philosophical sense, as when Webster (1828) defined it as the model after which anything is formed.^(Webster 1828) Model-makers used it from 1911 for the full-size original of a scale model,^(OED 2026) and electrical engineers from 1923 for a basic filter network.^(OED 2026) The now dominant sense, a first working version of a new machine or vehicle built for testing, is recorded from 1932, in the aviation magazine ''Flight''.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) The verb followed: "to take as a model" in American English from 1837, and "to make a prototype of" from 1859.^(OED 2026) In biology the word names the ancestral or primitive form of a group.^(Collins 2023)^(AHD 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1552 – the first or original type of something.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+ * 1596 – the Greek form ''prototypon''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1603 – ''prototype'' in Samuel Daniel.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1650 – ''prototypical''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1837 – verb, to take as a model (US).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1911 – the full-size original of a scale model.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+ * 1932 – a first full-size working version of a vehicle or machine.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A first or early [[model]] of a machine, device or product, built to test the design before it is made in quantity.^(Collins 2023)^(AHD 2024)

+ # An original on which later forms are based; an [[archetype]].^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A typical example of a kind or class: ''she was the prototype of the self-taught engineer''.^(AHD 2024)^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+ # ''(biology)'' The [[ancestral]] or primitive form of a species or group.^(Collins 2023)^(AHD 2024)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make a prototype of: ''the team prototyped the new valve in a month''.^(OED 2026)^(Chambers 2014)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[prototypal]]

+ * [[prototypically]]

+ * [[prototypical]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[type]]

+ * [[archetype]]

+ * [[proto-]]

+ * [[typical]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}