Model

How to spell model

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce model

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does model mean?

1. nounA small or simplified representation of something, or a particular version or design of a manufactured item.
2. nounA person employed to display clothing or to pose for an artist or photographer.
3. verbTo make a representation of something, to display clothing, or to base one thing on another as a pattern.
4. adjectiveServing as an excellent example worthy of imitation.

Model in a sentence

• noun

  The architect built a scale model of the new office block.

• noun

  The model wore the designer's new collection down the runway.

• verb

  The students learned to model the bridge in clay before building it.

• adjective

  He was a model employee who never missed a deadline.

• noun

  This year's model of the car has better fuel economy.

• noun

  The painter hired a model to sit for the portrait.

Where does model come from?

Language of origin: Italian

This word travelled into English around the late 1500s from the French modelle, which came in turn from the Italian modello. The Italian word descended from a Late Latin form modellus, a diminutive of the Latin modulus, meaning 'a small measure' or 'a standard', which itself was the little cousin of modus, 'measure, manner, or way'. The earliest English uses were architectural: a model was a set of plans or a small-scale pattern that builders measured their work against. From that idea of a measured pattern came every later sense, whether a miniature replica, an exemplary standard to copy, or the person who poses as a pattern for an artist or for clothes. The same modulus root also gives us 'module', 'modulate', and 'mould', and the original sense of measurement explains why model keeps a single 'l' rather than doubling it.

How the word is built

• mod (measure, standard)
• -el (diminutive suffix, 'little measure')