paradigm Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun systematic arrangement of all the inflected forms of a word
  2. noun a standard or typical example
    epitome; prototype; image.
    • he is the prototype of good breeding
    • he provided America with an image of the good father
  3. noun 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)
    substitution class.
  4. noun the generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time
    • he framed the problem within the psychoanalytic paradigm

WordNet

Par"a*digm noun
Etymology
F. paradigme, L. paradigma, fr. Gr. , fr. to show by the side of, to set up as an example; beside + to show. See Para-, and Diction.
Definitions
  1. An example; a model; a pattern. R. "The paradigms and patterns of all things." Cudworth.
  2. (Gram.) An example of a conjugation or declension, showing a word in all its different forms of inflection.
  3. (Rhet.) An illustration, as by a parable or fable.

Webster 1913