Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1600-1700
Language: French
Origin: Greek prototypon 'first form'

prototype

 noun
     
pro‧to‧type [countable]
1 the first form that a new design of a car, machine etc has, or a model of it used to test the design before it is produced
2 someone or something that is one of the first and most typical examples of a group or situation
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
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