prototypes

Noun

prototype (plural prototypes)

1. An original form or object which is a basis for other forms or objects (particularly manufactured items), or for its generalizations and models.
   • Near-synonym: archetype (sometimes synonymous)

   Synonyms:

   archetype, exemplar

2. An early sample or model built to test a concept or process.
   • The prototype had loose wires and rough edges, but it worked.
3. A declaration of a function that specifies the name, return type, and parameters, but none of the body or actual code.
   • Like any variable in a C program it is necessary to prototype or declare a function before its use, if it returns a value other than an int. It informs the compiler that the function would be referenced at a later stage in the program. / For example, / In program 1, the statement / void...2005, J. B. Dixit, “Unit-5: Functions and Pointers”, in Sangeeta Dixit, editor, Fundamentals of Computing, new edition, New Delhi: Laxmi Publications, →ISBN, page 355
4. An instance of a category or a concept that combines its most representative attributes.
   • A robin is a prototype of a bird; a penguin is not.
5. A type of race car, a racing sports car not based on a production car. A 4-wheeled cockpit-seating car built especially for racing on sports car circuits, that does not use the silhouette related to a consumer road car.

   Synonyms:

   racing prototype, sports prototype, prototype racecar

See all 7 meanings of prototype