Meanings
plural paradigms · plural paradigmata
- A pattern, a way of doing something; especially a pattern of thought, a system of beliefs, a conceptual framework.
Near-synonyms: style, model, worldview
2 more examples
Thomas Kuhn's landmark “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” got people talking about paradigm shifts, to the point the word itself now suggests an incomplete or biased perspective.
At times, the assimilationist paradigm has facilitated the physical dispossession of Native lands and the suppression or eradication of Native institutions, culture, and identity by the political branches of the federal government.
2024 September 30, Michael Doran, “EXCEPTIONALISM AND ASSIMILATIONISM IN FEDERAL INDIAN LAW”, in Stanford Law School, volume 20, number 2, page 267, archived from the original on 24 Feb 2025 - An example serving as the model for such a pattern; an exceptionally good or prototypical example of a pattern or group.
Near-synonyms: template, exemplar, archetype, poster child; see also Thesaurus:exemplar, Thesaurus:model
2 more examples
According to the Fourth Circuit, “Coca-Cola” is “the paradigm of a descriptive mark that has acquired secondary meaning”.
2000, Estate of William F. Jenkins v. Paramount Pictures Corp.DRT is a paradigm example of a dynamic semantic theory, […]
2003, Nicholas Asher, Alex Lascarides, Logics of Conversation, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 46Synonyms: template, exemplar, archetype, poster child, archetype, byspel, case, beau ideal
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA pattern, a way of doing something; especially a pattern of thought, a system of beliefs, a conceptual framework.
nounAn example serving as the model for such a pattern; an exceptionally good or prototypical example of a pattern or group.
nounA set of all forms which contain a common element, especially the set of all inflectional forms of a word or a particular grammatical category.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe 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)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekπαράδειγμα“pattern”
- Late Latinparadīgma
- Middle Englishparadygme
- Englishparadigm
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.
More words from Middle English, Late Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans paradigma, paradigma
- paradigmaway of viewing reality
- paradigmaexample serving as a model or pattern
- paradigmalinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Ancient Greek παράδειγμα
- παράδειγμα (parádeigma)linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Arabic نَمَط, نُمُوذَج
- نَمَط (namaṭ)way of viewing reality
- نُمُوذَج (numūḏaj)example serving as a model or pattern
- مِثَال (miṯāl)example serving as a model or pattern
- آيَة (ʔāya)example serving as a model or pattern
- قِيَاسlinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Bulgarian образец, пример
- образец (obrazec)example serving as a model or pattern
- пример (primer)example serving as a model or pattern
- парадигма (paradigma)linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Catalan paradigma, paradigma
- paradigmaway of viewing reality
- paradigmaexample serving as a model or pattern
- paradigmalinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Chinese Mandarin 範式 /范式, 範例 /范例
- 範式 /范式 (fànshì)way of viewing reality
- 範例 /范例 (fànlì)way of viewing reality
- 範例 /范例 (fànlì)example serving as a model or pattern
- 模範 /模范 (mófàn)example serving as a model or pattern
- 典範 /典范 (diǎnfàn)example serving as a model or pattern
- 詞形變化表 /词形变化表 (cíxíng biànhuàbiǎo)linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Czech paradigma, pojetí
- paradigmaway of viewing reality
- pojetíway of viewing reality
- paradigmaexample serving as a model or pattern
- vzorlinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Danish paradigme, paradigme
- paradigmeway of viewing reality
- paradigmelinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Dutch paradigma, denkkader
- paradigmaway of viewing reality
- denkkaderway of viewing reality
- paradigmaexample serving as a model or pattern
- paradigmalinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Finnish paradigma, maailmankatsomus
- paradigmaway of viewing reality
- maailmankatsomusway of viewing reality
- paradigmaexample serving as a model or pattern
- ajatusmalliexample serving as a model or pattern
- paradigmalinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
- taivutuskaavalinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
- muotosarjalinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
French paradigme, paradigme
- paradigmeway of viewing reality
- paradigmeexample serving as a model or pattern
- paradigmelinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
German Paradigma, Weltanschauung
- Paradigmaway of viewing reality
- Weltanschauungway of viewing reality
- Bezugssystemway of viewing reality
- Sicht der Dingeway of viewing reality
- Denkrahmenway of viewing reality
- Beispielexample serving as a model or pattern
- Musterbeispielexample serving as a model or pattern
- Paradigmalinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
- Flexionsmusterlinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
- Flexionsschemalinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Greek κοσμοθεωρία, παράδειγμα
- κοσμοθεωρία (kosmotheoría)way of viewing reality
- παράδειγμα (parádeigma)linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Hebrew פָּרָדִיגְמָה
- פָּרָדִיגְמָה (paradigma)example serving as a model or pattern
Icelandic hugarfar, fyrirmynd
- hugarfarway of viewing reality
- fyrirmyndexample serving as a model or pattern
- viðmiðexample serving as a model or pattern
- beygingardæmilinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Indonesian paradigma, paradigma
- paradigmaway of viewing reality
- paradigmaexample serving as a model or pattern
- paradigmalinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Italian paradigma, paradigma
- paradigmaway of viewing reality
- paradigmaexample serving as a model or pattern
- paradigmalinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Japanese 模範, 語形変化表
- 模範 (mohan)example serving as a model or pattern
- 語形変化表 (gokei henkahyō)linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Korean 범례, 범례
- 범례 (beomnye)way of viewing reality
- 범례 (beomnye)example serving as a model or pattern
- 어형 변화표 (eohyeong byeonhwapyo)linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Malay paradigma, paradigma
- paradigmaway of viewing reality
- paradigmaexample serving as a model or pattern
- paradigmalinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Norwegian Bokmål paradigme, paradigma
- paradigmeway of viewing reality
- paradigmaway of viewing reality
- paradigmelinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
- paradigmalinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Polish paradygmat, paradygmat
- paradygmatway of viewing reality
- paradygmatexample serving as a model or pattern
- paradygmatlinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Portuguese paradigma, paradigma
- paradigmaway of viewing reality
- paradigmaexample serving as a model or pattern
- paradigmalinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Romanian paradigmă, paradigmă
- paradigmăway of viewing reality
- paradigmăexample serving as a model or pattern
Russian паради́гма, паради́гма
- паради́гма (paradígma)way of viewing reality
- паради́гма (paradígma)example serving as a model or pattern
- образе́ц (obrazéc)example serving as a model or pattern
- приме́р (primér)example serving as a model or pattern
- паради́гма (paradígma)linguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Slovak paradigma, vzor
- paradigmaway of viewing reality
- vzorlinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Spanish paradigma, paradigma
- paradigmaway of viewing reality
- paradigmaexample serving as a model or pattern
- paradigmalinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Swedish paradigm
- paradigmway of viewing reality
Turkish paradigma, paradigma
- paradigmaway of viewing reality
- paradigmaexample serving as a model or pattern
- paradigmalinguistics: all forms which contain a common element
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with paradigm
Cite this entry
paradigm. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paradigm
“paradigm.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paradigm. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “paradigm,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/paradigm.
Source: paradigm on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.