Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Prototype
/ˈproʊtətaɪp/noun
An early working version of something, built to test the idea before the real thing is made.
The Greek roots
πρῶτος
prôtos
first
τύπος
týpos
impression, model
Literally: “first impression”
The story of the word
A týpos was the dent a blow leaves, from týptō, to strike, and then the die that makes the dent. So prōtótypon is the first impression, the original from which every later copy is struck. Printers took the same word for their metal letters and gave English type, typography and typewriter. A design office still means precisely the Greek thing: the one you hit first, to see what shape comes out.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Late Latin → French → English
- First recorded
- 17th century
Same family
typetypicalarchetypetypographyprotocol
In a sentence
The prototype worked once, in front of nobody, and never again.
They built three prototypes before the hinge stopped snapping.