/ ˈbluːprɪnt; NAmE / noun
1.
a photographic print of a plan for a building or a machine, with white lines on a blue background
2.
blueprint (for sth) a plan which shows what can be achieved and how it can be achieved :
a blueprint for the privatization of health care
3.
( technical ) the pattern in every living cell, which decides how the plant, animal or person will develop and what it will look like :
DNA carries the genetic blueprint which tells any organism how to build itself.
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WORD ORIGIN
late 19th cent.: from the original process in which prints were composed of white lines on a blue ground or of blue lines on a white ground.