Paradigms

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A typical example or pattern used as a standard ; a complete set of related forms of a word in language
2. An archetype serving as a model or example ; a group of word forms showing different grammatical features
3. A representative example or template for comparison ; a collection of variations of a word demonstrating its use in grammar

Etymology: The plural form "paradigms" simply pluralizes "paradigm," so the story lies in the noun itself. That noun reaches English through Middle English "paradygme," taken from Late Latin "paradīgma," which came from Ancient Greek "parádeigma," meaning "pattern" or "example." The Greek word was built from "paradeíknumi," "I show beside or compare," joined to a suffix that forms nouns naming the result of an action. The original idea is therefore something shown alongside something else for comparison, a model set beside the thing it is meant to match. The English word has kept that sense of a model or pattern held up for reference. Its second meaning, a set of inflected word forms, such as the conjugations of a verb, uses the same idea: a pattern laid out so that other forms can be compared against it.

Synonyms: models, patterns, frameworks, examples, standards

Antonyms: exceptions, deviations, anomalies, outliers, irregularities