I. R ˈpad.ərn, -atə-, - R -d.ən, -tən, -t ə n; R & -R chiefly substand -d.ərən or -tərən noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English patron, from Middle French, from Medieval Latin patronus — more at patron
1. : a fully realized form, original, or model accepted or proposed for imitation : something regarded as a normative example to be copied : archetype , exemplar
has been acting like a practically model pattern for a constructive opposition — New Yorker
2. : something designed or used as a model for making things : outline , plan
a dressmaker's pattern
3.
a. obsolete : a foundry matrix
b. : a model usually made of varnished or painted wood or of metal for making a mold into which molten metal is poured to form a casting
4.
a. : a representative instance : a typical example
b. : a specimen offered as a sample of the whole
5. : an artistic or mechanical design or form: as
a. : the shape or style of a manufactured article
bought a silver service of open stock pattern
b. : a design or figure used in decoration
the simple dignity of pattern of a New England colonial doorframe
the geometrical pattern of a rug
c. : form or style in literary or musical composition : coherent structure or design
the whole book forms a rich and subtle but highly organized pattern — F.R.Leavis
d. : the composition or plan of a work of graphic or plastic art
e. : architectural design or style
f. : the tracing made by skate blades by a figure or dance step executed on ice
6. : a natural or chance configuration (as of markings or of events)
frost patterns
7.
a. : a patron saint's day in Ireland
b. : the festivity connected with such a day
c. : a dance on any holiday
8. : a specimen of a proposed coin or coin design ; especially : one that has not been authorized for regular issue
9. : a length of fabric sufficient for an article (as a dress)
10.
a. : the distribution of the shot from a shotgun or the bullets from an exploded shrapnel on a target perpendicular to the plane of fire
b. : a diagram showing such distribution
c. : the grouping made on a target by rifle or handgun bullets and regarded as a test of marksmanship or of the qualities of the gun
11. : a reliable sample of traits, acts, or other observable features characterizing an individual
behavior pattern
personality pattern
— compare profile
12. : the approaches, turns, and altitudes prescribed for an airplane that is coming in for a landing
13. : an established mode of behavior or cluster of mental attitudes, beliefs, and values held in common by the members of a group
14. : the largest unit of classification in the midwestern system for American archaeology constituting a group of phases having several distinguishing and fundamental features in common — compare aspect , component , focus
15. : the manner in which smaller units of language are grouped or groupable into larger units (as sounds into sound classes or into words)
the pattern voiceless stop/voiced stop/nasal seen in the bilabials p, b, m is paralleled in the alveolars t, d, n and in the velars k, g, ŋ
16. : a standard diagram transmitted for testing television circuits
Synonyms: see model
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
1. obsolete : to serve as a pattern for : foreshadow
2. : to make, fashion, or design according to a pattern
the … chantey was patterned on a salt-water model — American Guide Series: Michigan
3. chiefly dialect England
a. : match , parallel
b. : to use as a pattern or model : imitate
4. : to furnish, adorn, or mark with a pattern or design
scarlet, violet, and purple togas pattern the mass of black and brown — Amy Lowell
intransitive verb
1. : to form patterns
the dancer is always patterning in space, as well as in time — Ruth A. Radir
2. of a firearm : to make a pattern on a target with shot or bullets
3. : to constitute or fit into a language pattern