noun · verb · 8 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.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈpɹəʊtətaɪp/
Canada, General-American:/ˈpɹoʊtəˌtaɪp/
Canada, General-American:[ˈpɹoʊɾəˌtaɪp]
Canada, General-American:[ˈpɹoʊɾəˌtʌɪp]
Canada, General-American:/ˈpɹoʊtoʊ-/
California:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Australian:/ˈpɹəʉtətɑep/
Australian:[ˈpɹəʉɾətɑep]
Australian:[ˈpɹɐʉɾətɑep]
QueenslandRecorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
New-Zealand:/ˈpɹɐʉtətaɪp/
New-Zealand:[ˈpɹɐʉɾətaɪp]
CMU ARPABET:P R OW1 T AH0 T AY2 P
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
An original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects (particularly manufactured items), or for its generalizations and models.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
Near-synonym: archetype (sometimes synonymous)
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: archetype
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
An early sample or model built to test a concept or process.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
The prototype had loose wires and rough edges, but it worked.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A declaration of a function that specifies the name, return type, and parameters, but none of the body or actual code.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
A robin is a prototype of a bird; a penguin is not.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
verb
Meaning 6
To create a prototype of.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
verb
Meaning 7
To imitate or emulate.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: rare, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
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: paradigm, epitome, image
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: model, example
Narrower terms: concentrate, imago
History
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.
Across languages
Translations
53 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
نموذج
(namūḏaj)
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Bulgarian:
първообраз
(pǎrvoobraz)
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Bulgarian:
прототип
(prototip)
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Catalan:
prototip
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Chinese Mandarin:
原型
(yuánxíng)
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Chinese Mandarin:
雏形
(chúxíng)
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Chinese Mandarin:
樣機 /样机
(yàngjī)
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Czech:
prototyp
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Danish:
prototype
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Dutch:
prototype
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Faroese:
frumsnið
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Finnish:
prototyyppi
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
French:
prototype
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Galician:
prototipo
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
German:
Prototyp
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Greek:
πρωτότυπο
(protótypo)
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Hebrew:
אב טיפוס
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Icelandic:
frumgerð
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Indonesian:
prototipe
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Indonesian:
purwarupa
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Interlingua:
prototypo
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Italian:
prototipo
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Japanese:
プロトタイプ
(purototaipu)
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Japanese:
原型
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Malay:
prototaip
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Malay:
prototipe
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Malay:
purbarupa
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Norwegian Bokmål:
prototyp
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Norwegian Bokmål:
prototype
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Norwegian Bokmål:
grunnform
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Norwegian Nynorsk:
prototyp
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Norwegian Nynorsk:
prototype
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Norwegian Nynorsk:
grunnform
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Plautdietsch:
Väabilt
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Polish:
prototyp
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Portuguese:
protótipo
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Romanian:
prototip
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Romanian:
prim-model
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Russian:
прототи́п
(prototíp)
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Russian:
моде́ль
(modélʹ)
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Russian:
проо́браз
(proóbraz)
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Serbo-Croatian:
prȍtotīp
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Spanish:
prototipo
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Swedish:
prototyp
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Turkish:
prototip
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Turkish:
model
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Vietnamese:
nguyên mẫu
— original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects
Bulgarian:
прототип
(prototip)
— early sample or model built to test a concept or process
Plautdietsch:
Väabilt
— early sample or model built to test a concept or process
Polish:
prototyp
— early sample or model built to test a concept or process
Spanish:
prototipo
— early sample or model built to test a concept or process
Spanish:
prototipado
— early sample or model built to test a concept or process
Polish:
prototyp
— instance of a category or a concept that combines its most representative attributes
