model

• modell

From Middle French modelle, from Old Italian modello, from Vulgar Latin *modellus, diminutive form of modulus (“measure, standard”), diminutive of modus (“measure”); see mode, and compare module, modulus, mould, mold.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɒdl̩/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑdl̩/, [ˈmɑ.ɾɫ]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  • Homophone: mottle
• Hyphenation: mod‧el
• Rhymes: -ɒdəl

model (plural models)

2. A person who serves as a human template for artwork or fashion.

   Leonardo da Vinci chose a 15th century criminal as a model for Judas in his painting The Last Supper. The supersize model displayed the latest summer shorts fashion, tactfully representing similarly overweight teenagers.

4. A person, usually an attractive male or female, who is hired to show items or goods to the public, such as items that are given away as prizes on a TV game show.
6. A representation of a physical object.

   The boy played with a model of a World War II fighter plane. The biology teacher passed a large plastic model of the atomic structure of DNA around the classroom.

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

     I had my father's signet in my purse, / Which was the model of that Danish seal.

   • 1726, [Joseph Addison], Dialogues Upon the Usefulness of Ancient Medals. […], [London], →OCLC, page 23:

     You have here the models of ſeveral ancient Temples, though the Temples themſelves, and the Gods that were worſhipped in them, are periſhed many hundred years ago.

8. A simulation used to analyze the workings of a real world system or event.

   machine learning model

   The computer weather model did not correctly predict the path of the hurricane.

   • 2007 November 1, Jeff Goodell, quoting James Lovelock, “James Lovelock, the Prophet”, in Rolling Stone‎^[1]:

     The trouble is, all those well-intentioned scientists who are arguing that we’re not in any imminent danger are basing their arguments on computer models. I’m basing mine on what’s actually happening.

   • 2013 June 29, Leo Montada, “Coping with Life Stress”, in Herman Steensma, Riël Vermunt, editors, Social Justice in Human Relations Volume 2: Societal and Psychological Consequences of Justice and Injustice‎^[2], Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 26:

     The fourth model is called the enlightment model: Actors are seen to be responsible for problems but unable or unwilling to provide solutions. They are believed to need discipline provided by authoritative guidance. The Alcoholic Anonymous^[sic] groups are considered prototypical for this model.

10. A style, type, or design.

    Coordinate terms: make, marque

    we service all makes and models

    He decided to buy the turbo engine model of the sports car.

    This year's model features four doors instead of two.

    Q: What make and model of car do you drive? A: It's a Buick LaCrosse.

12. The structural design of a complex system.

    The team developed a sound business model.

14. A successful example to be copied, with or without modifications.

    Coordinate term: (person) mentor

    Near-synonym: (person) role model

    He was a model of eloquence and virtue.

    British parliamentary democracy was seen as a model for other countries to follow.

    • 1960 December, “The Glasgow Suburban Electrification is opened”, in Trains Illustrated, page 714:

      Above all, the 48-page timetables of the new service, which have been distributed free at every station in the scheme, are a model to the rest of B.R. For the first time on British Railways, so far as we are aware, a substantial timetable has been produced, not only without a single footnote but also devoid of all wearisome asterisks, stars, letter suffixes and other hieroglyphics.

    • 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:

      Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. […] Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.

16. (logic) An interpretation function which assigns a truth value to each atomic proposition.
18. (logic) An interpretation which makes a set of sentences true, in which case that interpretation is called a model of that set.
20. (biology, medicine) An organism or species that is used to study an aspect of physiology or pathophysiology or a particular disease; often, a nonhuman one used to approximate processes in humans.

    Synonym: model organism

    They studied fasting and glycemia in a mouse model.

    They studied Mendelian inheritance in a fruit fly model.

    They studied plasmid transfer in a mycobacterial model.

22. Any copy, or resemblance, more or less exact.
    • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

      Thou seest thy wretched brother die, / Who was the model of thy father's life.

24. (software architecture) In software applications using the model-view-controller design pattern, the part or parts of the application that manage the data.

• See Thesaurus:model

• antimodel, see also Thesaurus:jerk

• → Cantonese: 模特兒 / 模特儿 (mou⁴ dak⁶ ji⁴), 摩度
• → Cebuano: model
• → German: Model
• → Japanese: モデル
• → Korean: 모델 (model)
• → Mandarin: 模特兒 / 模特儿, 麻豆 (neologism)
• → Swahili: modeli
• → Welsh: model

model (not comparable)

1. Worthy of being a model; exemplary.

   Synonym: ideal

   • 1898, John Thorburn, The St. Andrew's Society of Ottawa: 1846-1897 : sketch, page 40:

     [...] from the land of your origin, because you demand the claims of those who believe it more model than yours, [...]

   • 1932, Nora Fugger, translated by James Austin Galaston, The Glory of the Habsburgs: the Memoirs of Princess Fugger, page 35:

     Methods of game-preservation in their extensive and well-stocked hunting-grounds were as model as the huntsmanlike management of the hunts.

   • 1934, Charles Ryle Fay, Imperial economy and its place in the formation of economic doctrine, 1600-1932, page 143:

     [...] and we press with special severity on one small country whose agriculture is as model as is her way of rural life.

   • 1956, Stephen Rynne, All Ireland, page 54:

     True, it is an untidy county; the farmhouses are much more model than the farms (when we reach Antrim we shall find that the farms are more model than the farmhouses).

   • 1961, Blackwood's Magazine, volume 289, page 525:

     At our approach the animals made so much noise that the owners of the hut peered round the door to see what was the matter; outwardly rather less model than the farm, there appeared two ancient Basques, emblematically black-bereted, gnarled [...]

   • 1968, American County Government, volume 33, page 19:

     But not all the exchanges were as model as the sergeant. Some of the exchangees showed a rigidity and reluctance to adapt.

   • 1999, Michael D. Williams, Acquisition for the 21st century: the F-22 Development Program, page 113:

     It is as model as you can get.

   • 2002, Uma Anand Segal, A framework for immigration: Asians in the United States, page 308:

     While Asians have been perceived as the model minority, it is increasingly clear that some Asian groups are more model than are others, and even within these model groups, a division exists [...]

   • 2010, Eleanor Coppola, Notes on a Life, page 140:

     All were neat and well kept which added to the sense that they were more model than real.

model (third-person singular simple present models, present participle (UK) modelling or (US) modeling, simple past and past participle (UK) modelled or (US) modeled)

1. (transitive) to display an item on one's body for others to see the potential effect on their own bodies, especially in regard to wearing clothing while performing the role of a fashion model

   She modelled the shoes for her friends to appreciate.

2. (transitive) To devise a model of (some original), especially to better understand or forecast the original.

   They modelled weather patterns using a computer.

   • 2023 June 28, Mel Holley, “A true transport trailblazer?”, in RAIL, number 986, page 34:

     What passenger growth might be achieved by this can be modelled, but experience shows that in the post-COVID environment, accurate modelling is exceptionally difficult.

3. (transitive) To make a miniature model of.

   He takes great pride in his skill at modeling airplanes.

4. (transitive) To create from a substance such as clay.

   The sculptor modelled the clay into the form of a dolphin.

5. (intransitive) To make a model or models.
6. (intransitive) To work as a model in art or fashion.

   The actress used to model before being discovered by Hollywood.

• (UK) modelise, (US) modelize

• “model”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “model”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
•   Category:model on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

• LModE, molde

Ultimately from Old Italian modello, from Vulgar Latin *modellus, diminutive form of modulus (“measure, standard”).

model m (plural modele, definite modeli, definite plural modelet)

1. pattern
2. example

   Synonyms: shembull, mostër

• modeloj
• modelim

• IPA^(key): (Central) [muˈðɛl]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [moˈðɛl]

model m (plural models)

1. model

model m or f by sense (plural models)

1. model (person)

• modelar
• modèlic

• “model” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “model”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “model” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “model” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• Hyphenation: mo‧del

Borrowed from English model, from Middle French modelle, from Old Italian modello, from Vulgar Latin *modellus, diminutive form of Latin modulus (“measure, standard”), diminutive of modus (“measure”).

model

1. fashion model
2. model, poser; someone who poses for a photograph or painting
3. framework
4. example

model

1. to model
2. to become or work as a fashion model
3. to pose

• modelo

From the Cebuano phrase mo-deliver ug lunggon (“someone who delivers coffins”).

model

1. (colloquial, humorous) a funeral home worker; a funeral director or funeral attendant See usage notes.

• Used to poke fun at a good-looking or well-dressed person.

From French modèle (“model”).

model

1. model

• Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎^[3], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

• IPA^(key): [ˈmodɛl]

• Audio:

  (file)

From German Modell.

model m inan

1. (art) model (artistic template)
2. model (reduced-scale template, e.g. scale model)
3. model (of a car, aircraft, etc.)

   Máte jiný model? ― Do you have another model?

4. (metallurgy) model, mold
5. (mathematics) (formal) model

• → Silesian: model

model m anim (female equivalent modelka)

1. male model (person who models clothing, or an artist's model)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

model f

1. genitive plural of modla

• “model”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “model”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “model”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Borrowed from Middle French modelle, from Old Italian modello, from Vulgar Latin *modellus, diminutive form of modulus.

• IPA^(key): /moːˈdɛl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mo‧del
• Rhymes: -ɛl

model n (plural modellen, diminutive modelletje n)

1. model (type, design)
2. model (someone or something serving as an artistic subject)
3. model (simplified representation)
4. model (miniature)
5. model (prototype)
6. shape, the proper arrangement of something

• Afrikaans: model
• Negerhollands: modell
• → Caribbean Javanese: modhèl, modhèlan, modho
• → Indonesian: model
• → West Frisian: model

From Dutch model, from Middle French modelle, from Old Italian modello, from Vulgar Latin *modellus, diminutive form of modulus. Doublet of mode, modern, modul, and modus.

• IPA^(key): [ˈmodɛl]
• Hyphenation: mo‧dèl

modèl (plural model-model)

1. model,
   1. a style, type, or design.
   2. a person who serves as a subject for artwork or fashion, usually in the medium of photography but also for painting or drawing.
   3. a person, usually an attractive female, hired to show items or goods to the public, such as items given away as prizes on a TV game show.
   4. a representation of a physical object, usually in miniature.
2. (psychology) role model, a person who serves as an example, whose behavior is emulated by others

• pemodelan
• permodelan

• “model” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

• modelo

Borrowed from French modèle^[1]

model m (Hebrew spelling מודיל)^[1]

1. model (template)
   • 1994, Eli Shaul, Folklor de los judios de Turkiya‎^[4], Isis, →ISBN, page 152:

     En analizando objektivamente la kestion, vemos ke en siguidad de las polimikas entre estos dos jurnalistas, Sabetay Leon, fue atakado juntos sus amigos de su partido komo "vendido" i "dalkavuk", loke no es verdad, visto ke todos los konosemos ke el es un model de "dezenteresamiento".

     In objectively analysing the question, we see that after the polemics between the journalists, Sabetay Leon was attacked along with his friends of his party as ‘a sellout’ and ‘a bootlicker’, which is untrue, seeing everything that we know of them which is a model of ‘indifference.’

   • 2000, Aki Yerushalayim‎^[5], numbers 62–64, page 94:

     La lengua de kultura ke el admirava i ke konosia su literatura era el fransez, i esta es la lengua ke el eskojo komo model para el djudeo espanyol kulto.

     The language that he admired and whose literature that he knew was French, and this is the language that he chose as a model for educated Judezmo.

Borrowed from Italian modello.^[1] First attested in 1561.^[2] Compare Silesian model. Doublet of modła and moduł.

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔdɛl
• Syllabification: mo‧del

model m inan (diminutive modelik, related adjective modelowy)

1. model (a representation of a physical object)
2. model (the structural design of a complex system)

   Synonyms: paradygmat, szablon, wzorzec, wzór

3. model (a style, type, or design)

   Synonym: typ

4. model (way of organizing something)
5. model (object used to prepare casting molds)
6. model (a successful example to be copied, with or without modifications)
7. model (trial copy of a series of technical products)
8. model (any copy, or resemblance, more or less exact)

model m pers (female equivalent modelka)

1. model (person who serves as a subject for artwork)
2. (colloquial) funny guy (person who makes one laugh or shocks with their behavior)

   Synonyms: agregat, aparat, numer, numerant

• model in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• model in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Ewa Rodek (07.12.2022) “MODEL”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century]
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “model”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “model”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1902), “model”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 2, Warsaw, page 1025

• модел (model) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Borrowed from French modèle or Italian modello.

• IPA^(key): /moˈdel/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -el
• Hyphenation: mo‧del

model n (plural modele)

1. a template

• model in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Borrowed from German Modell or French modèle, from Italian modello, from Latin modellus.

• IPA^(key): /mǒdel/
• Hyphenation: mo‧del

mòdel m (Cyrillic spelling мо̀дел)

1. model (clarification of this definition is needed)

• “model”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Borrowed from Czech model.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔ.dɛl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔdɛl
• Syllabification: mo‧del

model m inan (related adjective modelowy)

1. model

• model in silling.org
• Henryk Jaroszewicz (2022) “model”, in Zasady pisowni języka śląskiego (in Polish), Siedlce: Wydawnictwo Naukowe IKR[i]BL, page 97

Borrowed from French modèle.

• IPA^(key): /moˈdel/
• Hyphenation: mo‧del

model (definite accusative modeli, plural modeller)

1. model (clarification of this definition is needed)

From English model, from Middle French modelle, from Old Italian modello.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɔdɛl/

model m or f (plural modelau)

1. model

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “model”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies