Paradigm

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Paradigm \Par"a*digm\, n. [F. paradigme, L. paradigma, fr. Gr.
     ?, fr. ? to show by the side of, to set up as an example;
     para` beside + ? to show. See {Para-}, and {Diction}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. An example; a model; a pattern. [R.] "The paradigms and
        patterns of all things." --Cudworth.


        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Gram.) An example of a conjugation or declension, showing
        a word in all its different forms of inflection.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Rhet.) An illustration, as by a parable or fable.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Science) A theory providing a unifying explanation for a
        set of phenomena in some field, which serves to suggest
        methods to test the theory and develop a fuller
        understanding of the topic, and which is considered useful
        until it is be replaced by a newer theory providing more
        accurate explanations or explanations for a wider range of
        phenomena.
        [PJC] Paradigmatic

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  paradigm
       n 1: systematic arrangement of all the inflected forms of a word
       2: a standard or typical example; "he is the prototype of good
          breeding"; "he provided America with an image of the good
          father" [syn: {prototype}, {epitome}, {image}]
       3: the class of all items that can be substituted into the same
          position (or slot) in a grammatical sentence (are in
          paradigmatic relation with one another) [syn: {substitution
          class}]
       4: the generally accepted perspective of a particular
          discipline at a given time; "he framed the problem within
          the psychoanalytic paradigm"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  63 Moby Thesaurus words for "paradigm":
     IC analysis, accidence, affix, affixation, allomorph, antetype,
     antitype, archetype, beau ideal, biotype, bound morpheme,
     classic example, conjugation, criterion, cutting, declension,
     derivation, difference of form, enclitic, epitome, example,
     exemplar, formative, free form, fugleman, fugler, genotype, ideal,
     imitatee, immediate constituent analysis, infix, infixation,
     inflection, lead, mirror, model, morph, morpheme,
     morphemic analysis, morphemics, morphology, morphophonemics,
     original, pattern, precedent, prefix, prefixation, proclitic,
     prototype, radical, representative, root, rule, standard, stem,
     suffix, suffixation, theme, type, type species, type specimen,
     urtext, word-formation