Paradigm

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈpæɹ.ə.daɪm/

Definitions

1. A model illustrating a standard approach to theories and practices that influences thought processes and methodologies in various domains
2. A theoretical framework that defines established norms or patterns of thought, guiding interpretations in different contexts
3. A conceptual framework representing a typical example, which shapes established theories and methodologies across multiple disciplines

Etymology: The word has a surprisingly literal past: in ancient Greek, "parádeigma" meant something shown beside something else, a model or pattern set alongside for comparison. It is built from "paradeiknumi," meaning "I show beside or compare," with the suffix "-ma," which forms nouns for the result of an action. So the core idea is a thing displayed next to another so the two can be checked against each other. The Greek word passed into Latin as "paradigma," and reached English through Middle English "paradygme" and later Late Latin forms. English kept an older sense of an example or model, and the word later took on specialized senses in grammar, where a paradigm is a set of inflected forms of a word, such as the full list of cases for a noun. In English, "paradigm" has a doublet: "paradigma" was taken in as a separate, more Latinate form, so the two versions share one Greek ancestor but arrived by different routes.

Synonyms: model, template, framework, pattern, example

Antonyms: anomaly, exception, deviation, misrepresentation, outlier