Standard Lemma guide

prototypical

adj · 2 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: /ˌpɹəʊtəˈtɪpɪkəl/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌpɹəʊtəʊ-/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /-əkəl/
  • General-American: /ˌpɹoʊtəˈtɪpɪkəl/
  • General-American: /ˌpɹoʊtoʊ-/
  • General-American: /-əkəl/
  • CMU ARPABET: P R OW2 T AH0 T IH1 P IH0 K AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Constituting or representing an original type of something that others are modelled on or derived from.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: archetypal, archetypic, archetypical, prototypic

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

representing or constituting an original type after which other similar things are patterned

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • archetypal patterns
  • she was the prototypal student activist

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: archetypal, archetypical, prototypal, prototypic

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English prototype Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ic Proto-Indo-European *h2el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al Middle English -ical English -ical English prototypical From prototype + -ical.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: prototípic — relating to or being a prototype
  • Esperanto: prototipa — relating to or being a prototype
  • French: prototypique — relating to or being a prototype
  • Italian: prototipico — relating to or being a prototype
  • Italian: prototipistico — relating to or being a prototype
  • Portuguese: prototípico — relating to or being a prototype
  • Spanish: prototípico — relating to or being a prototype