Example

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ɪɡˈzɑːmpÉ™l/
• Rhymes: -ɑːmpÉ™l
• US IPA: /ɪɡˈzæmpÉ™l/
• Rhymes: -æmpÉ™l

Origin

From Middle English example, from Old French essample (French: exemple), from Latin exemplum ("literally what is taken out (as a sample), a sample, pattern, specimen, copy for imitation, etc."), from eximō ("take out"), from ex ("out") + emō ("buy; acquire"); see exempt. Compare ensample, sample, exemplar. Displaced native Middle English bisne, forbus, forbusen ("example, model, template, exemplar") (from Old English bīsen, forebīsen, forebȳsen ("example, model, template, exemplar")) and Middle English byspel ("example, proverb") (from Old English bīspel).

Full definition of example

Noun

1. Something that is representative of all such things in a group.
• 2013-07-26, Leo Hickman, How algorithms rule the world, The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.
2. Something that serves to illustrate or explain a rule; a byspel.
• 2013, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, Wild Plants to the Rescue, Plant breeding is always a numbers game....The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, …. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.
3. Something that serves as a pattern of behaviour to be imitated (a good example) or not to be imitated (a bad example); byspel.
• Bible, John xiii, 15For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
• John MiltonI gave, thou sayest, the example; I led the way.
• 1818, Mary Shelley, :Learn from me, if not by my precepts, then at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge,...
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 4, The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track....Their example was followed by others at a time when the master of Mohair was superintending in person the docking of some two-year-olds, and equally invisible.
4. A person punished as a warning to others.
• William ShakespeareHang him; he'll be made an example.
• Bible, 1 Corinthians x, 6Now these things were our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
5. A parallel or closely similar case, especially when serving as a precedent or model.
• William ShakespeareSuch temperate order in so fierce a cause
  Doth want example.
6. An instance (as a problem to be solved) serving to illustrate the rule or precept or to act as an exercise in the application of the rule.

Synonyms

• byspel, forbisen

Derived terms

• for example
• make an example of
• proof by example
• set an example

Related terms

• exemplary

Verb

1. To be illustrated or exemplified (by).

Anagrams

• exempla