n.
- A small object, usually built to scale, that represents in detail another, often larger object.
- A preliminary work or construction that serves as a plan from which a final product is to be made: a clay model ready for casting.
- Such a work or construction used in testing or perfecting a final product: a test model of a solar-powered vehicle.
- A schematic description of a system, theory, or phenomenon that accounts for its known or inferred properties and may be used for further study of its characteristics: a model of generative grammar; a model of an atom; an economic model.
- A style or design of an item: My car is last year's model.
- One serving as an example to be imitated or compared: a model of decorum. See synonyms at ideal.
- One that serves as the subject for an artist, especially a person employed to pose for a painter, sculptor, or photographer.
- A person employed to display merchandise, such as clothing or cosmetics.
- Zoology. An animal whose appearance is copied by a mimic.
v., -eled, also -elled, -el·ing, -el·ling, -els, -els. v.tr.
- To make or construct a model of.
- To plan, construct, or fashion according to a model.
- To make conform to a chosen standard: He modeled his manners on his father's.
- To make by shaping a plastic substance: modeled a bust from clay.
- To form (clay, for example) into a shape.
- To display by wearing or posing.
- In painting, drawing, and photography, to give a three-dimensional appearance to, as by shading or highlighting.
- To make a model.
- To serve or work as a model.
- Being, serving as, or used as a model.
- Worthy of imitation: a model child.
[French modèle, from Italian modello, diminutive of modo, form, from Latin modus, measure, standard.]
modeler mod'el·er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
