antetype
|an-te-type|
/ˈæn.tɪ.taɪp/
earlier model / precursor
Etymology
'antetype' originates from the Latin prefix 'ante-' meaning 'before' combined with Greek 'typos' meaning 'impression, model'.
'antetype' was formed in post-medieval English/Neo-Latin usage by combining 'ante-' + 'type' (from Greek 'typos') and appears as a rare/technical term in English from the 17th–19th centuries.
Initially used chiefly in learned or theological contexts to indicate something that precedes or prefigures, it has come to be used more generally for an original model or precursor.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
an original model, prototype, or pattern from which later things are derived.
The sculptor's plaster study was the antetype for the bronze statue that followed.
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Noun 2
a precursor or forerunner; something that precedes and foreshadows a later thing.
The folktale acted as an antetype for many of the motifs found in 19th-century novels.
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Noun 3
in religious or literary typology, a person or event in an earlier text that prefigures or is fulfilled by a later one.
In typological interpretation, some Old Testament episodes are treated as antetypes of New Testament events.
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Last updated: 2025/08/23 11:47