Pattern

How to spell pattern

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce pattern

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does pattern mean?

1. nounA repeated decorative design, or a model or arrangement used as a guide.
2. verbTo make or design something following a particular model or example.

Pattern in a sentence

• noun

  The wallpaper had a bold floral pattern running across it.

• verb

  The architects chose to pattern the new wing on the original building.

• noun

  She followed the paper pattern to cut out the dress.

• verb

  Managers often pattern their teams after a system that already works.

Where does pattern come from?

Language of origin: French

Pattern comes from the Old French word patron, which meant a model, an example, or a master copy that something could be made from, and which itself derived from the Latin patronus, a protector or defender. The Latin patronus rested on pater, the word for 'father', because a patron acted as a kind of fatherly guardian. English borrowed the word in the 1300s, and at first 'pattern' and 'patron' were the same word, both spelled various ways. Over time the senses split: 'patron' kept the meaning of a supporter or sponsor, while 'pattern' drifted to mean the model or design that work is copied from, and then the repeating arrangement of shapes or events we recognise today. The spelling settled with the doubled t and the -ern ending, which is the part adults sometimes second-guess, but remembering its kinship with 'patron' helps fix the root.

How the word is built

• patron (model, master copy)
• -n (form altered in English)