Example Definition
example
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English
Most common English words: q « greatly « floor « #982: example » class » century » sorryEtymology
From Middle English example from Old French essample (French: exemple) from Latin exemplum (“literally what is taken out (as a sample), a sample, pattern, specimen, copy for imitation, etc.”) from eximō (“take out”) from ex (“out”) + emō (“buy; acquire”); see exempt. Compare ensample, sample, exemplar. Displaced native Middle English bisne, forbus, forbusen "example, model, template, exemplar" (from Old English bīsen, forebīsen, forebȳsen "example, model, template, exemplar") and Middle English byspel "example, proverb" (from Old English bīspel).
Pronunciation
Noun
example (plural examples)
- Something that is representative of all such things in a group.
- Something that serves to illustrate or explain a rule.
- Something that serves as a pattern of behaviour to be imitated (a good example) or not to be imitated (a bad example).
- 1818, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, Chapter 4:
- Learn from me, if not by my precepts, then at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, […]
- 1818, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus, Chapter 4:
- A person punished as a warning to others.
- A parallel or closely similar case, especially when serving as a precedent or model.
- An instance (as a problem to be solved) serving to illustrate the rule or precept or to act as an exercise in the application of the rule.
Synonyms
- byspel
- See also Wikisaurus:model
- See also Wikisaurus:exemplar
Derived terms
- for example
- make an example of
- proof by example
- set an example
Related terms
See also
Verb
to example (third-person singular simple present examples, present participle exampling, simple past and past participle exampled)
- To be illustrated or exemplified (by)
External links
- example in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- example in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
Anagrams
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An example is a demonstration with the aim of informing others of how a task should be performed.