From Old French architipe (modern French archétype), from Latin archetypum, from Ancient Greek ἀρχέτυπον, the neuter form of ἀρχέτυπος ("first-moulded"), from ἀρχή ("beginning, origin") (from ἄρχω ("to begin; to lead, rule"), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ergʰ-) + τῠ́πος ("blow, pressing; sort, type") (from τύπτω ("to beat, strike"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp-).

• (RP) IPA: /ˈɑːkɪtaɪp/
• (America) IPA: /ˈɑɹkɪtaɪp/

archetype (plural archetypes)

1. An original model of which all other similar concepts, objects, or persons are merely copied, derivative, emulated, or patterned; a prototype. [from mid 16th c.]
   • 1658, Thomas Browne, “The Garden of Cyrus. […]. Chapter V.”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, […] Together with The Garden of Cyrus, […], London: […] Hen[ry] Brome […], →OCLC ↗, page 192 ↗:

     According to that Cabaliſticall Dogma: If Abram had not had this Letter [i.e., ה (he)] added unto his Name he had remained fruitleſſe, and without the power of generation: […] So that being ſterill before, he received the power of generation from that meaſure and manſion in the Archetype; and was made conformable unto Binah.

2. An ideal example of something; a quintessence.
3. (literature) A character, object, or story that is based on a known character, object, or story.
4. (psychology) According to Swiss psychologist Carl Jung: a universal pattern of thought, present in an individual's unconscious, inherited from the past collective experience of humanity.
5. (textual criticism) A protograph.

• See Thesaurus:model

• French: archétype
• German: Urbild, Prototyp, Archetyp
• Italian: archetipo, capostipite
• Portuguese: arquétipo
• Russian: архети́п
• Spanish: arquetipo, exponente

• Portuguese: arquétipo
• Russian: образе́ц

• Portuguese: arquétipo

• French: archétype
• German: Archetyp
• Portuguese: arquétipo
• Russian: архети́п

archetype (archetypes, present participle archetyping; simple past and past participle archetyped)

1. To depict as, model using, or otherwise associate an object or subject with an archetype.