prototype

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun

An original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects (particularly manufactured items), or for its generalizations and models.
An early sample or model built to test a concept or process.
A declaration of a function that specifies the name, return type, and parameters, but none of the body or actual code.
An instance of a category or a concept that combines its most representative attributes.
A type of race car, a racing sports car not based on a production car. A 4-wheeled cockpit-seating car built especially for racing on sports car circuits, that does not use the silhouette related to a consumer road car.

verb

To create a prototype of.
To imitate or emulate.

Pronunciation

/ˈpɹəʊtətaɪp/ /ˈpɹoʊtəˌtaɪp/ [ˈpɹoʊɾəˌtaɪp] [ˈpɹoʊɾəˌtʌɪp] /ˈpɹoʊtoʊ-/ en-us-prototype.ogg /ˈpɹəʉtətɑep/ [ˈpɹəʉɾətɑep] [ˈpɹɐʉɾətɑep] en-au-prototype.ogg /ˈpɹɐʉtətaɪp/ [ˈpɹɐʉɾətaɪp]

Word forms

prototype prototypes prototyping prototyped

Etymology

From French prototype or Late Latin prototypon, from Ancient Greek πρωτότυπος (prōtótupos, “original; prototype”), from πρωτο- (prōto-, “first”) (from πρῶτος (prôtos, “first; earliest”)) + τῠ́πος (tŭ́pos, “blow, pressing; sort, type”) (from τύπτω (túptō, “to beat, strike”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp- (“to push; to stick”)). The word is analysable as proto- + -type.

Synonyms

Related words

antetype first article

Derived words

pretotype prototypable prototypal prototype-based prototype-based language prototype-based programming prototype-based scripting language prototype extension prototype-oriented prototype-oriented programming prototype pattern prototype theory prototypic prototypical prototypicality prototypically prototyping prototype racing

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