1
as in original
something from which copies are made
Beowulf is considered by some scholars to be the archetype for medieval British heroic tales
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in forerunner
something belonging to an earlier time from which something else was later developed
the abacus is sometimes cited as the archetype of the modern digital calculator
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of archetype
However, the defining cliché of Japanese BL is the Seme and the Uke, character archetypes that subtextually gender ostensibly same-sex relationships.
—
Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 30 Jan. 2026
No Man's Sky creates entire galaxies by distorting archetypes through procedural variation.
—Amir Husain, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Spoken like a true pseudo-bohemian trust-fund dilettante, an archetype as old as dynastic wealth.
—Judy Berman, Time, 29 Jan. 2026
This archetype has been around as long as storytelling itself, but it’s actually made up of several highly differentiated sub-archetypes.
—Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for archetype
Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 30 Jan. 2026
No Man's Sky creates entire galaxies by distorting archetypes through procedural variation.
—Amir Husain, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Spoken like a true pseudo-bohemian trust-fund dilettante, an archetype as old as dynastic wealth.
—Judy Berman, Time, 29 Jan. 2026
This archetype has been around as long as storytelling itself, but it’s actually made up of several highly differentiated sub-archetypes.
—Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for archetype
Recent Examples of Synonyms for archetype
Noun
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There are also expanded indoor and outdoor seating areas at the new store, versus the original at the Town Plaza shopping center, which opened with 19,600 square feet in 2003.—
Howard Cohen,
Miami Herald,
13 Feb. 2026
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Officials said there was no chain of custody for the materials, agents took originals and didn't retain copies and the ballots shouldn't have been physically removed from Fulton County.—
Irene Wright,
USA Today,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The forerunner of British Invasion took the summit of American entertainment, which was a huge deal across generations.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
30 Jan. 2026
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Manufactured between 1960 and 1980, Scouts were beefy 4x4s and a forerunner to the SUV.—
Justin Wingerter,
Denver Post,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
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An international research collaboration co-led by UCLA has developed a nickel-iron battery prototype that recharges in seconds and maintains its performance for over 12,000 cycles.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Feb. 2026
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Rivian has unveiled a prototype of its upcoming $45,000 electric SUV, the R2, which company officials say will be crucial to its long-term future as a viable automaker.—
Keith Laing,
USA Today,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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But now, a series of tea parties with an ape named Kanzi suggests some of our closest ancestors may have this ability too.—
Suzanne Nuyen,
NPR,
11 Feb. 2026
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The findings also suggest that herbivory evolved independently in several different groups of early land vertebrates, not just in the ancestors of modern reptiles.—
Lily Hautau,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The Dallas Cowboys are planning to place the franchise tag on wide receiver George Pickens, a league source confirmed to The Athletic.—
Jon Machota,
New York Times,
8 Feb. 2026
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Wright cited statistics showing that natural gas -- long the nation's leading source of electricity -- provided 43% of electric power at peak generation during the storm, followed by coal at 24% and nuclear at 15%.—
MATTHEW DALY,
Arkansas Online,
8 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Commercial prediction markets have resisted efforts by states to classify and regulate them as gambling companies, insisting that they — like their precursor in Iowa — should be overseen by federal regulators.—
Suzy Khimm,
NBC news,
13 Feb. 2026
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There’s a direct line from Licklider’s work to ARPANET, a precursor to the internet and World Wide Web, through the work of Robert Taylor, Doug Engelbart, Ted Nelson, and Tim Berners-Lee.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Archetype.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/archetype. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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