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archetype (noun):

1 : the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies
2 psychology : an inherited idea or mode of thought in the psychology of Carl Gustav Jung that is derived from the experience of the race and is present in the unconscious of the individual

Source : Merriam -Webster

Etymology : Archetype comes from the Greek verb archein (“to begin” or “to rule”) and the noun typos (“type”). Archetype has specific uses in the fields of philosophy and psychology. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato, for example, believed that all things have ideal forms (aka archetypes) of which real things are merely shadows or copies. And in the psychology of C. G. Jung, archetype refers to an inherited idea or mode of thought that is present in the unconscious of the individual. In everyday prose, however, archetype is most commonly used to mean “a perfect example of something.”

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