type

[tahyp] /taɪp/
noun
1.
a number of things or persons sharing a particular characteristic, or set of characteristics, that causes them to be regarded as a group, more or less precisely defined or designated; class; category:
a criminal of the most vicious type.
2.
a thing or person regarded as a member of a class or category; kind; sort (usually followed by of):
This is some type of mushroom.
3.
Informal. a person, regarded as reflecting or typifying a certain line of work, environment, etc.:
a couple of civil service types.
4.
a thing or person that represents perfectly or in the best way a class or category; model:
the very type of a headmaster.
5.
Printing.
  1. a rectangular piece or block, now usually of metal, having on its upper surface a letter or character in relief.
  2. such pieces or blocks collectively.
  3. a similar piece in a typewriter or the like.
  4. such pieces collectively.
  5. a printed character or printed characters:
    a headline in large type.
  6. face (defs 19b, c).
6.
Biology.
  1. a genus or species that most nearly exemplifies the essential characteristics of a higher group.
  2. the one or more specimens on which the description and naming of a species is based.
7.
Agriculture.
  1. the inherited features of an animal or breed that are favorable for any given purpose:
    dairy type.
  2. a strain, breed, or variety of animal, or a single animal, belonging to a specific kind.
8.
Logic, Linguistics. Also called type-word. the general form of a word, expression, symbol, or the like in contrast to its particular instances:
The type “and” in “red and white and blue” has two separate tokens.
Compare token (def 8).
9.
the pattern or model from which something is made.
10.
an image or figure produced by impressing or stamping, as the principal figure or device on either side of a coin or medal.
11.
a distinctive or characteristic mark or sign.
12.
a symbol of something in the future, as an Old Testament event serving as a prefiguration of a New Testament event.
13.
Medicine/Medical, blood group.
verb (used with object), typed, typing.
14.
to write on a typewriter; typewrite or keyboard.
15.
to reproduce in type or in print.
16.
Medicine/Medical. to ascertain the type of (a blood or tissue sample).
17.
to typecast.
18.
to be a type or symbol of; typify; symbolize; represent.
19.
to represent prophetically; foreshadow; prefigure.
verb (used without object), typed, typing.
20.
to typewrite.
Origin
1425-75; late Middle English: symbol, figure (< Middle French) < Latin typus bas-relief, ground plan < Greek týpos blow, impression
Related forms
mistype, verb, mistyped, mistyping.
mistyped, adjective
pretype, verb (used with object), pretyped, pretyping.
retype, verb (used with object), retyped, retyping.
untyped, adjective
well-typed, adjective
Can be confused
kind, sort, type (see usage note at kind; see usage note at the current entry)
Synonyms
1. sort, classification, form, stamp. 2. sample, example.
Usage note
2. When preceded by a modifier, type meaning “kind, sort” is sometimes used without a following of: This type furnace uses very little current. In writing, a hyphen is often placed between type and the preceding word or words: a magnetic-type holder; a New England-type corn pudding. This construction is frequently criticized by usage guides; it is most typical of journalistic writing and advertising and occurs rarely in formal speech or writing. In almost all cases the construction can be rendered fully standard either by restoring of after type, with no hyphen (this type of furnace; a New England type of corn pudding) or by omitting type altogether (a magnetic holder).
Examples from the web for types
  • The pressure for delivery covers all types of steel.
  • But it is important to distinguish clearly between the two types of doubles.
  • These are all types, to be sure, but they are made alive and the dialogue is clever.
  • But soon one notes a change, a new sense of the value of background and of strongly individualized types for characters.
  • The three types of finished intelligence are: basic, current, and estimative.
  • Sharks and wolves may no longer be figured as types of prandial haste.
  • Take advantage of the taller types for the middle or back of borders.
  • Besides the familiar green sort, you'll find types with yellow or purple pods.
  • There are two basic types: upright forms useful as shrubs, and prostrate types that will spill down slopes and cascade over walls.
  • Sweet-fruited varieties need moderate to high heat to form sugars, while sour-fruited types require less heat.
British Dictionary definitions for types

type

/taɪp/
noun
1.
a kind, class, or category, the constituents of which share similar characteristics
2.
a subdivision of a particular class of things or people; sort: what type of shampoo do you use?
3.
the general form, plan, or design distinguishing a particular group
4.
(informal) a person who typifies a particular quality: he's the administrative type
5.
(informal) a person, esp of a specified kind: he's a strange type
6.
  1. a small block of metal or more rarely wood bearing a letter or character in relief for use in printing
  2. such pieces collectively
7.
characters printed from type; print
8.
(biology)
  1. the taxonomic group the characteristics of which are used for defining the next highest group, for example Rattus norvegicus (brown rat) is the type species of the rat genus Rattus
  2. (as modifier): a type genus, a type species
9.
See type specimen
10.
the characteristic device on a coin
11.
(linguistics) a symbol regarded as standing for the class of all symbols identical to it Compare token (sense 8)
12.
(logic) a class of expressions or of the entities they represent that can all enter into the same syntactic relations. The theory of types was advanced by Bertrand Russell to avoid the liar paradox, Russell's paradox, etc
13.
(philosophy) a universal. If a sentence always has the same meaning whenever it is used, the meaning is said to be a property of the sentence-type Compare token (sense 9)
14.
(mainly Christian theol) a figure, episode, or symbolic factor resembling some future reality in such a way as to foreshadow or prefigure it
15.
(rare) a distinctive sign or mark
verb
16.
to write (copy) on a typewriter
17.
(transitive) to be a symbol of; typify
18.
(transitive) to decide the type of; clarify into a type
19.
(transitive) (med) to determine the blood group of (a blood sample)
20.
(transitive) (mainly Christian theol) to foreshadow or serve as a symbol of (some future reality)
Word Origin
C15: from Latin typus figure, from Greek tupos image, from tuptein to strike
Word Origin and History for types

type

n.

late 15c., "symbol, emblem," from Latin typus "figure, image, form, kind," from Greek typos "dent, impression, mark, figure, original form," from root of typtein "to strike, beat," from PIE root *(s)teu- "to strike, cut, hew" (see steep (adj.)). Extended 1713 to printing blocks with letters carved on them. The meaning "general form or character of some kind, class" is first in English 1843, though it had that sense in Latin and Greek. To be someone's type "be the sort of person that person is attracted to" is recorded from 1934.

v.

"to write with a typewriter," 1888; see type (n.). Related: Typed; typing.

types in Medicine

type (tīp)
n.

  1. A number of people or things having in common traits or characteristics that distinguish them as a group or class.

  2. The general character or structure held in common by a number of people or things considered as a group or class.

  3. A person or thing having the features of a group or class.

  4. An example or a model having the ideal features of a group or class.

  5. A taxonomic group, especially a genus or species, chosen as the representative example in characterizing the larger taxonomic group to which it belongs.

  6. The specimen on which the original description and naming of a taxon is based.

v. typed, typ·ing, types
To determine the antigenic characteristics of a blood or tissue sample.
types in the Bible

occurs only once in Scripture (1 Cor. 10:11, A.V. marg.). The Greek word _tupos_ is rendered "print" (John 20:25), "figure" (Acts 7:43; Rom. 5:14), "fashion" (Acts 7:44), "manner" (Acts 23:25), "form" (Rom. 6:17), "example" or "ensample" (1 Cor. 10:6, 11; Phil. 3:17; 1 Thess. 1:7; 2 Thess. 3:9; 1 Tim. 4:12). It properly means a "model" or "pattern" or "mould" into which clay or wax was pressed, that it might take the figure or exact shape of the mould. The word "type" is generally used to denote a resemblance between something present and something future, which is called the "antitype."