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type

1 of 2

noun

ˈtīp

often attributive

Synonyms oftype next

:a particular kind, class, or group

oranges of the seedlesstype

leaders of the newtype … did England yeoman's service—

G. M. Trevelyan

:something distinguishable as a variety:sort

whattype of food do you like?

:a member of an indicated class or variety of people

the guests were mostly urbantypes—

Lucy Cook

:a typical and often superior specimen

:qualities common to a number of individuals that distinguish them as an identifiable class: such as

(1)

:the morphological, physiological, or ecological characters by which relationship between organisms may be recognized

(2)

:the form common to all instances of a linguistic element

:printed letters

b(1)

:a rectangular block usually of metal bearing a relief character from which an inked print can be made

(2)

:a collection of such blocks

a font oftype

(3)

:alphanumeric characters for printing

thetype for this book has been photoset

:typeface

italictype

:matter set in type

:a distinctive mark or sign

:a person or thing (as in the Old Testament) believed to foreshadow another (as in the New Testament)

:one having qualities of a higher category:model

:a lower taxonomic category selected as a standard of reference for a higher category

also:a specimen or series of specimens on which a taxonomic species or subspecies is actually based

type

2 of 2

verb

typed;typing

intransitive verb

:to write something on atypewriter or enter data into a computer by way of a keyboard

transitive verb

:to produce (a character, a document, etc.) using a keyboard (as on a typewriter or computer)

also:keyboard

:to identify as belonging to a type: such as

:to determine the natural type of (as a blood sample)

:typecast

:to produce a copy of

:to represent in terms of typical characteristics:typify

:to represent beforehand as a type:prefigure

typeable

ˈtī-pə-bəl How to pronounce type (audio)

adjective

Synonyms

Noun

Verb

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Choose the Right Synonym fortype

type,kind,sort,nature,description,character mean a number of individuals thought of as a group because of a common quality or qualities.

type may suggest strong and clearly marked similarity throughout the items included so that each is typical of the group.

one of three basic bodytypes

kind may suggest natural grouping.

a zoo seemingly having animals of everykind

sort often suggests some disparagement.

thesort of newspaper dealing in sensational stories

nature may imply inherent, essential resemblance rather than obvious or superficial likenesses.

two problems of a similarnature

description implies a group marked by agreement in all details belonging to a type as described or defined.

not all acts of thatdescription are actually illegal

character implies a group marked by distinctive likenesses peculiar to the type.

research on the subject so far has been of an elementarycharacter

Examples oftype in a Sentence

Noun We were not prepared to face thistype of crisis. We studied varioustypes of trees. a seedlesstype of orange He only likes twotypes of music. She likes alltypes of books.Verb How fast can youtype? I never learned how totype. She asked her secretary totype a memo.

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage.Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.Send us feedback.

Verb

The suspenseful clip shows a member of the space station’s crewtypingon a computer.—

Dade Hayes,Deadline, 20 Mar. 2025Skip to the next and previous photo bytypingj/k or ←/→.Urban Explorer.—

Alan Taylor,The Atlantic, 19 Mar. 2025Voice notes are an incredibly convenient way to capture ideas, reminders or important information without needing totypeor write.—

Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report,Fox News, 17 Mar. 2025Donald Trump is more invested in a great powerstypegeopolitical structure in which big countries like the U.S., Russia, and China are effectively the deciders as to who does what.—

NBC News, 9 Mar. 2025See All Example Sentences fortype

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Late Latintypus, from Latin & Greek; Latintypus image, from Greektypos blow, impression, model, fromtyptein to strike, beat; akin to Sanskrittupati he injures and probably to Latinstupēre to be benumbed

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined atsense 4a

Verb

1596, in the meaning defined attransitive sense 4

Time Traveler

The first known use oftype was in the 15th century

See more words from the same century