Model \Mod"el\, n. [F. mod[`e]le, It. modello, fr. (assumed) L.
modellus, fr. modulus a small measure, dim. of modus. See
Mode, and cf. Module.]
1. A miniature representation of a thing, with the several
parts in due proportion; sometimes, a facsimile of the
same size.
In charts, in maps, and eke in models made.
--Gascoigne.
I had my father's signet in my purse, Which was the
model of that Danish seal. --Shak.
You have the models of several ancient temples,
though the temples and the gods are perished.
--Addison.
2. Something intended to serve, or that may serve, as a
pattern of something to be made; a material representation
or embodiment of an ideal; sometimes, a drawing; a plan;
as, the clay model of a sculpture; the inventor's model of
a machine.
[The application for a patent] must be accompanied
by a full description of the invention, with
drawings and a model where the case admits of it.
--Am. Cyc.
When we mean to build We first survey the plot, then
draw the model. --Shak.
3. Anything which serves, or may serve, as an example for
imitation; as, a government formed on the model of the
American constitution; a model of eloquence, virtue, or
behavior.
4. That by which a thing is to be measured; standard.
He that despairs measures Providence by his own
little, contracted model. --South.
5. Any copy, or resemblance, more or less exact.
Thou seest thy wretched brother die, Who was the
model of thy father's life. --Shak.
6. A person who poses as a pattern to an artist.
A professional model. --H. James.
Working model, a model of a machine which can do on a small
scale the work which the machine itself does, or expected
to do.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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