paradigm means A pattern, a way of doing something; especially a pattern of thought, a system of beliefs, a conceptual framework. It carries an Arena rating of 1811, earned across 46 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, paradigm ranks #22 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #229 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #263 of 42,749 for Qualifying, #2,654 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
paradigm is pronounced /ˈpæɹ.ə.daɪm/.
Why “paradigm” is a great word
A typical example, pattern, or conceptual framework that serves as a model for a way of thinking or a system of beliefs. From Middle English paradygme, from Late Latin paradīgma, from Ancient Greek παράδειγμα (parádeigma, "pattern, model"), from παραδείκνυμι (paradeíknumi, "to show beside, to compare") + -μα (-ma, noun-forming suffix). Unlike an "example," which is a singular, illustrative instance, or a "doctrine," which is an explicit, codified teaching, a paradigm is the invisible architecture that makes both possible—the silent mold into which all evidence is poured. It is the pre-Copernican sky wheeling around a fixed Earth, the unspoken grammar of an entire age, the water in which the fish never thinks to swim. We do not choose our paradigms; they choose us, until one day we find ourselves standing outside them, blinking in unfamiliar light.
Etymology
From Middle English paradygme, from Late Latin paradīgma, from Ancient Greek παράδειγμα (parádeigma, “pattern”), from παραδείκνυμι (paradeíknumi, “I show [beside] or compare”) + -μα (-ma, suffix forming nouns concerning the results of actions). Doublet of paradigma.
noun
- A pattern, a way of doing something; especially a pattern of thought, a system of beliefs, a conceptual framework.e.g.“Near-synonyms: style, model, worldview”
- An example serving as the model for such a pattern; an exceptionally good or prototypical example of a pattern or group.e.g.“Near-synonyms: template, exemplar, archetype, poster child; see also Thesaurus:exemplar, Thesaurus:model”
- A set of all forms which contain a common element, especially the set of all inflectional forms of a word or a particular grammatical category.e.g.“The paradigm of "to sing" is "sing, sang, sung". The verb "to ring" follows the same paradigm.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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