Archetype
/ˈɑːrkɪtaɪp/
noun
a very typical example of a certain person or thing
The concept of 'archetype' originates from Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, who believed that archetypes are universal symbols or themes that reside in the collective unconscious of people, influencing behavior and perceptions.
See how Stephen King, Charles Darwin and 1 other author use "archetype", with its meaning, pronunciation and real book examples.
Examples from books
If we suppose that an early progenitor—the archetype, as it may be called—of all mammals, birds and reptiles, had its limbs constructed on the existing general pattern, for whatever purpose they served, we can at once perceive the plain signification of the homologous construction of the limbs throughout the class.
Charles Darwin
The Origin of Species
18 UNTIL THEY MET THE old people in River Crossing, Susannah had seen Roland strictly in terms of television shows she rarely watched: Cheyenne, The Rifleman, and, of course, the archetype of them all, Gunsmoke.
Stephen King
The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower, Book 3)
Who became, between April and July, the archetype of all the many disappointing sons in the land; history, working through him, was also pointing its finger at Gauhar, at future-Sanjay and Kanti-Lal-to-come; and, naturally, at me.
Salman Rushdie
Midnight's Children: A Novel
