type

From Middle English type (“symbol, figure, emblem”), from Latin typus, from Ancient Greek τύπος (túpos, “mark, impression, type”), from τύπτω (túptō, “I strike, beat”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp-. Related to stupid, stupefy and stop.

• IPA^(key): /taɪp/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪp

type (plural types)

1. A grouping based on shared characteristics; a class.
   • 2012 March, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 128:

     Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are diamond, ruby and sapphire, emerald and other gem forms of the mineral beryl, chrysoberyl, tanzanite, tsavorite, topaz and jade.

   This type of plane can handle rough weather more easily than that type of plane.

2. An individual considered typical of its class, one regarded as typifying a certain profession, environment, etc.
   • 2002, Pat Conroy, The Great Santini, page 4:

     "I just peeked out toward the restaurant and there are a lot of Navy types in there. I'd hate for you to get in trouble on your last night in Europe."

3. An individual that represents the ideal for its class; an embodiment.
   • 1872, Mary Rose Godfrey, Loyal, volume 3, page 116:

     Altogether he was the type of low ruffianism — as ill-conditioned a looking brute as ever ginned a hare.

4. (printing, countable) A letter or character used for printing, historically a cast or engraved block.
   1. (uncountable) Such types collectively, or a set of type of one font or size.
   2. (chiefly uncountable) Text printed with such type, or imitating its characteristics.

      The headline was set in bold type.

5. (taxonomy) Something, often a specimen, selected as an objective anchor to connect a scientific name to a taxon; this need not be representative or typical.
   • 2009 March 20, Greg Mayer, “Who is the type specimen of Homo sapiens?”, in Why Evolution Is True‎:

     ...thus Stearn has designated Linnaeus as the type specimen of Homo sapiens

   • 2015 December 16, “What's in a fly?”, in Natural History Museum‎:

     Musca domestica is the type-species of Musca, a genus originally created by Linnaeus for a variety of higher Diptera, many of which are now known to be in other families.

6. Preferred sort of person; sort of person that one is attracted to.

   We can't get along: he's just not my type.

   He was exactly her type.

7. (medicine) A blood group.
8. (corpus linguistics) A word that occurs in a text or corpus irrespective of how many times it occurs, as opposed to a token.
9. (theology) An event or person that prefigures or foreshadows a later event - commonly an Old Testament event linked to Christian times.
10. (computing theory) A tag attached to variables and values used in determining which kinds of value can be used in which situations; a data type.
11. (fine arts) The original object, or class of objects, scene, face, or conception, which becomes the subject of a copy; especially, the design on the face of a medal or a coin.
12. (chemistry) A simple compound, used as a mode or pattern to which other compounds are conveniently regarded as being related, and from which they may be actually or theoretically derived.

    The fundamental types used to express the simplest and most essential chemical relations are hydrochloric acid, water, ammonia, and methane.

13. (mathematics) A part of the partition of the object domain of a logical theory (which due to the existence of such partition, would be called a typed theory). (Note: this corresponds to the notion of "data type" in computing theory.)
    • 2011, V.N. Grishin (originator), "Types, theory of", in Encyclopedia of Mathematics. URL: http://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?title=Types,_theory_of&oldid=14150

      Logics of the second and higher orders may be regarded as type-theoretic systems.

    Categorial grammar is like a combination of context-free grammar and types.

14. (obsolete except in the above special senses) A symbol, emblem, or example of something.

• (grouping based on shared characteristics): category, class, genre, group, kind, nature, sort, stripe, tribe
• (printing block letter/character): sort
• (mathematics): sort
• See also Thesaurus:class

• (computing theory): built-in type, composite type, primitive type, user-defined type
• (printing block letter/character): movable type

• → Japanese: タイプ
• → Korean: 타입 (taip)

Hands of a person typing. (sense 2)

type (third-person singular simple present types, present participle typing, simple past and past participle typed)

1. To put text on paper using a typewriter.
2. To enter text or commands into a computer using a keyboard.
3. To determine the blood type of.

   The doctor ordered the lab to type the patient for a blood transfusion.

4. To represent by a type, model, or symbol beforehand; to prefigure.
5. To furnish an expression or copy of; to represent; to typify.
   • 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “(please specify the page number, or |part=Prologue, I to VII, or conclusion)”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:

     Let us type them now in our own lives.

6. To categorize into types.
   • 1998, Dana Stabenow, Fire and Ice, page 1:

     It was a full load, a disparate group that he had already typed and cross-matched with their potential for future crime.

• Esperanto: tajpi

type (not comparable)

1. (African-American Vernacular, slang, rare) Very, extremely.

   Synonyms: mad, hella, wicked, dumb, dummy, (NYC) odee, (MLE, MTE) bare

   • 2007 September 16, Alex Mindlin, quoting David Helene, “’Our Year Is the Most Competitive Year in the History of College Applications. Or Something Like That.’”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-02-19:

     I don't think Brooklyn slang is that different from Manhattan slang. But I'm not used to a lot of the slang my friends use. Months ago, I first heard, "There are mad heads here." I was like, "Where did that come from?" For a while they were saying, "That's type funny." I was like: "What? What do you mean by that?" It means "very funny." Or they were like, "That's dumb stupid." I'm like, "That's redundant."

   • 2012, Jason Hooper, Some Things Are Better Left Untold, West Conshohocken, P.A.: Infinity Publishing, →ISBN, page 20:

     Yeah, the fat bitch is type-slow.

   • 2017, Treasure Malian, In Love With the King of Miami, Atlanta, G.A.: Royalty Publishing House, →ISBN, page 17:

     Standing before me was a grown ass woman. She was type thick, with nice size succulent breasts, and a nice plumped ass. Cadence was stacked.

   • 2023 December 19, @chillimnotacop, Twitter‎, archived from the original on 20 December 2023:

     I'm ngl you're type ugly too

• Jonathon Green (2024) “type adv.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang

• pyet

• Audio

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• Hyphenation: ty‧pe

From Latin typus, from Ancient Greek τύπος (túpos, “mark, impression, type”), from τύπτω (túptō, “I strike, beat”).

type n (plural types or typen, diminutive typetje n)

1. type: a class, someone or something from a class. The diminutive is used when made into a caricature.

• → Indonesian: tipe
• Petjo: tiep

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

type

1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of typen

Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin typus, from Ancient Greek τύπος (túpos).

• IPA^(key): /tip/

• audio

  (file)

type m (plural types)

1. type; sort, kind
2. (colloquial) guy, bloke, man
3. (typography) typeface

• type générique

• → Polish: typ
• → Romanian: tip
• → Turkish: tip

type (plural types)

1. typical, normal, classic
2. (statistics) standard

• écart type

• “type”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

type

1. vocative singular of typus

From Ancient Greek τύπος (túpos).

type m (definite singular typen, indefinite plural typer, definite plural typene)

1. a type (kind, sort)
2. typeface
3. (slang) a male person, a boy or man
4. (slang) someone's boyfriend

   Typen til Anne.

   Anne's boyfriend.

• “type” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Ancient Greek τύπος (túpos).

type m (definite singular typen, indefinite plural typar, definite plural typane)

1. a type (kind, sort)

• “type” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.