Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Archetype \Ar"che*type\ ([aum]r"k[-e]*t[imac]p), n. [L.
   archetypum, Gr. 'arche`typon, fr. 'arche`typos stamped first
   and as model; 'arche = 'archi + ty`pos stamp, figure,
   pattern, ty`ptein to strike: cf. F. arch['e]type. See
   {Arch-}, pref.]
   1. The original pattern or model of a work; or the model from
      which a thing is made or formed.

            The House of Commons, the archetype of all the
            representative assemblies which now meet.
                                                  --Macaulay.

            Types and shadows of that glorious archetype that
            was to come into the world.           --South.

   2. (Coinage) The standard weight or coin by which others are
      adjusted.

   3. (Biol.) The plan or fundamental structure on which a
      natural group of animals or plants or their systems of
      organs are assumed to have been constructed; as, the
      vertebrate archetype.

Source : WordNet®

archetype
     n : an original model on which something is patterned [syn: {original},
          {pilot}]