Etymology

model

mod·el
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Today it means: A person who poses as a subject or visual reference for an artist. Full definition →

Middle French modelle ← Old Italian modello ← Vulgar Latin *modellus
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*med-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*médos
  3. Proto-Italic*medos
  4. Latinmodus
  5. Late Latinmodulus
  6. Vulgar Latin*modellus
  7. Old Italianmodello
  8. Middle Frenchmodelle
  9. English todaymodel

From Middle French modelle, from Old Italian modello, from Vulgar Latin *modellus, diminutive form of modulus (“measure, standard”), diminutive of modus (“measure”); see mode, and compare module, modulus, mould, mold.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.