Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - archetype

 noun  Etymology: Latin archetypum, from Greek archetypon, from neuter of archetypos archetypal, from archein + typos type  Date: 1545  1. the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies ; prototype; also a perfect example  2. idea 1a  3. an inherited idea or mode of thought in the psychology of C. G. Jung that is derived from the experience of the race and is present in the unconscious of the individual  • archetypal also archetypical adjective  • archetypally also archetypically adverb