noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
UK:/ˈpæɹ.ə.daɪm/
US:păr′ədīm
/ˈpæɹ.ə.daɪm/without the Mary–marry–merry merger
/ˈpɛɹ.ə.daɪm/Mary–marry–merry merger
[ˈpɛɹ.daɪm]Mary–marry–merry merger
/ˈpeɪ.ɹə.daɪm/Mary–marry–merry merger
California:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Australian:/ˈpæɹ.ə.dɑem/
QueenslandRecorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
New-Zealand:/ˈpɛɹ.ə.daɪm/
New-Zealand:[ˈpɛɹ.ə.dɑe̯m]
CMU ARPABET:P EH1 R AH0 D AY2 M
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A pattern, a way of doing something; especially a pattern of thought, a system of beliefs, a conceptual framework.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
Near-synonyms: style, model, worldview
Thomas Kuhn's landmark “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” got people talking about paradigm shifts, to the point the word itself now suggests an incomplete or biased perspective.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: style, model, worldview
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
An example serving as the model for such a pattern; an exceptionally good or prototypical example of a pattern or group.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
Near-synonyms: template, exemplar, archetype, poster child; see also Thesaurus:exemplar, Thesaurus:model
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: template, exemplar, archetype, poster child, byspel, case, case in point, embodiment, epitome, eponym, exemplification, example, exemplificator, Exhibit A, illustration, incarnation, instance, paradigm, prototype, quintessence, representative, sample, specimen, symbol, ur-type, icon, model, paragon, pattern
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A set of all forms which contain a common element, especially the set of all inflectional forms of a word or a particular grammatical category.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences
Examples
The paradigm of "to sing" is "sing, sang, sung". The verb "to ring" follows the same paradigm.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: paradigma
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
a standard or typical example
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
he is the prototype of good breeding
he provided America with an image of the good father
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: prototype, epitome, image
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: model, example
Narrower terms: concentrate, imago
5
noun
Meaning 5
the generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
he framed the problem within the psychoanalytic paradigm
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: position, view, perspective
6
noun
Meaning 6
the class of all items that can be substituted into the same position (or slot) in a grammatical sentence (are in paradigmatic relation with one another)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: substitution class
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: class, category, family
7
noun
Meaning 7
systematic arrangement of all the inflected forms of a word
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: inflection, inflexion
History
Etymology
From Middle English paradygme, from Late Latin paradīgma, from Ancient Greek παράδειγμα (parádeigma, “pattern”), from παραδείκνυμι (paradeíknumi, “I show [beside] or compare”) + -μα (-ma, suffix forming nouns concerning the results of actions). Doublet of paradigma.
Across languages
Translations
118 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
paradigma
— way of viewing reality
Arabic:
نَمَط
(namaṭ)
— way of viewing reality
Armenian:
հարացույց
(haracʻuycʻ)
— way of viewing reality
Catalan:
paradigma
— way of viewing reality
Chinese Mandarin:
範式 /范式
(fànshì)
— way of viewing reality
Chinese Mandarin:
範例 /范例
(fànlì)
— way of viewing reality
Czech:
paradigma
— way of viewing reality
Czech:
pojetí
— way of viewing reality
Danish:
paradigme
— way of viewing reality
Dutch:
paradigma
— way of viewing reality
Dutch:
denkkader
— way of viewing reality
Finnish:
paradigma
— way of viewing reality
Finnish:
maailmankatsomus
— way of viewing reality
French:
paradigme
— way of viewing reality
German:
Paradigma
— way of viewing reality
German:
Weltanschauung
— way of viewing reality
German:
Bezugssystem
— way of viewing reality
German:
Sicht der Dinge
— way of viewing reality
German:
Denkrahmen
— way of viewing reality
Greek:
κοσμοθεωρία
(kosmotheoría)
— way of viewing reality
Iban:
paradigma
— way of viewing reality
Icelandic:
hugarfar
— way of viewing reality
Indonesian:
paradigma
— way of viewing reality
Italian:
paradigma
— way of viewing reality
Kazakh:
парадигма
(paradigma)
— way of viewing reality
Korean:
범례
(beomnye)
— way of viewing reality
Kyrgyz:
парадигма
(paradigma)
— way of viewing reality
Macedonian:
паради́гма
(paradígma)
— way of viewing reality
Malay:
paradigma
— way of viewing reality
Norwegian Bokmål:
paradigme
— way of viewing reality
Norwegian Bokmål:
paradigma
— way of viewing reality
Norwegian Nynorsk:
paradigme
— way of viewing reality
Norwegian Nynorsk:
paradigma
— way of viewing reality
Pannonian Rusyn:
парадиґма
(paradigma)
— way of viewing reality
Polish:
paradygmat
— way of viewing reality
Portuguese:
paradigma
— way of viewing reality
Romanian:
paradigmă
— way of viewing reality
Russian:
паради́гма
(paradígma)
— way of viewing reality
Slovak:
paradigma
— way of viewing reality
Spanish:
paradigma
— way of viewing reality
Swedish:
paradigm
— way of viewing reality
Turkish:
paradigma
— way of viewing reality
Afrikaans:
paradigma
— example serving as a model or pattern
Arabic:
نُمُوذَج
(numūḏaj)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Arabic:
مِثَال
(miṯāl)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Arabic:
آيَة
(ʔāya)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Armenian:
հարացույց
(haracʻuycʻ)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Bulgarian:
образец
(obrazec)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Bulgarian:
пример
(primer)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Catalan:
paradigma
— example serving as a model or pattern
Chinese Mandarin:
範例 /范例
(fànlì)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Chinese Mandarin:
模範 /模范
(mófàn)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Chinese Mandarin:
典範 /典范
(diǎnfàn)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Czech:
paradigma
— example serving as a model or pattern
Dutch:
paradigma
— example serving as a model or pattern
Finnish:
paradigma
— example serving as a model or pattern
Finnish:
ajatusmalli
— example serving as a model or pattern
French:
paradigme
— example serving as a model or pattern
German:
Beispiel
— example serving as a model or pattern
German:
Musterbeispiel
— example serving as a model or pattern
Hebrew:
פָּרָדִיגְמָה
(paradigma)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Iban:
paradigma
— example serving as a model or pattern
Icelandic:
fyrirmynd
— example serving as a model or pattern
Icelandic:
viðmið
— example serving as a model or pattern
Indonesian:
paradigma
— example serving as a model or pattern
Italian:
paradigma
— example serving as a model or pattern
Japanese:
模範
(mohan)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Korean:
범례
(beomnye)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Macedonian:
паради́гма
(paradígma)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Malay:
paradigma
— example serving as a model or pattern
Pannonian Rusyn:
парадиґма
(paradigma)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Pannonian Rusyn:
приклад
(priklad)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Polish:
paradygmat
— example serving as a model or pattern
Portuguese:
paradigma
— example serving as a model or pattern
Romanian:
paradigmă
— example serving as a model or pattern
Russian:
паради́гма
(paradígma)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Russian:
образе́ц
(obrazéc)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Russian:
приме́р
(primér)
— example serving as a model or pattern
Spanish:
paradigma
— example serving as a model or pattern
Turkish:
paradigma
— example serving as a model or pattern
Afrikaans:
paradigma
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Albanian:
paradigmë
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Arabic:
قِيَاس
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Armenian:
հարացույց
(haracʻuycʻ)
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Bulgarian:
парадигма
(paradigma)
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Catalan:
paradigma
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Chinese Mandarin:
詞形變化表 /词形变化表
(cíxíng biànhuàbiǎo)
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Czech:
vzor
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Danish:
paradigme
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Dutch:
paradigma
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Faroese:
bendingarmynstur
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Finnish:
paradigma
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Finnish:
taivutuskaava
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Finnish:
muotosarja
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
French:
paradigme
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Georgian:
პარადიგმა
(ṗaradigma)
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
German:
Paradigma
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
German:
Flexionsmuster
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
German:
Flexionsschema
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Greek:
παράδειγμα
(parádeigma)
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Ancient Greek:
παράδειγμα
(parádeigma)
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Iban:
paradigma
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Icelandic:
beygingardæmi
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Indonesian:
paradigma
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Italian:
paradigma
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Japanese:
語形変化表
(gokei henkahyō)
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Korean:
어형 변화표
(eohyeong byeonhwapyo)
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Malay:
paradigma
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Norwegian Bokmål:
paradigme
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Norwegian Bokmål:
paradigma
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Norwegian Nynorsk:
paradigme
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Norwegian Nynorsk:
paradigma
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Polish:
paradygmat
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Portuguese:
paradigma
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Russian:
паради́гма
(paradígma)
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Slovak:
vzor
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Spanish:
paradigma
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Turkish:
paradigma
— linguistics: all forms which contain a common element