model, n. and adj.
Forms:
15–16 moddel, 15–16 moddell, 15–16 modill, 15–17 modell, 15–17 modle, 15– model, 16 moddle, 16 modele, 16 modiall (perhaps transmission error), 16 modil, 16 modull, 16–17 modelle; Sc. pre-17 modal, pre-17 moddell, pre-17 modell, pre-17 17– model, 18 moddle. (Show Less)
Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French modelle.
Etymology: < Middle French, French †modelle (1542 in sense A. 4b, 1563 in sense A. 4a, 1576 in sense A. 10, 1656 in sense A. 9a, 1676 in sense A. 11a; French modèle ) < Italian modello (a1537 denoting a figure made of wood or other materials used to make a mould in metal casting, a1544 in sense ‘perfect example worthy of imitation’) < post-classical Latin modellus (recorded 1327 in a British source in sense ‘mould, vessel’) < classical Latin modulus (see modulus n.) with alteration of the suffix (compare -el suffix2). Compare Spanish modelo (16th cent.), Portuguese modelo (16th cent.). Compare Dutch model (first half of the 17th cent.; < French), German Modell (17th cent.; < Italian), Swedish modell (mid 17th cent.), and Danish model (probably both via German). Compare mould n.3 and module n.
A. n.
I. A representation of structure, and related senses.
†1.
a. A set of designs (plans, elevations, sections, etc.) for a projected building or other structure; a similar set of drawings made to scale and representing the proportions and arrangement of an existing building. Also (occasionally): a plan of a town, garden, etc. Also fig. Obsolete.
1570 J. Dee in H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. Math. Præf. sig. ciijv
Now, may you of any Mould, or Modell of a Ship, make one, of the same Mould..bigger or lesser.
1575 G. Gascoigne Hearbes 173 in Posies
And I shall well my sillie selfe content, To come alone vnto my louely Lorde, And vnto him..To tel some..reasonable worde, Of Hollandes state, the which I will present, In Cartes, in Mappes, and eke in Models made.
c1582 T. Digges Briefe Disc. Dover Hauen in Archaeologia
(1794)
11 228
The proportion of the fludgates and capestainds..shall in modell bee allsoe sett downe.
1600 Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing i. iii. 42
Wil it serue for any model to build mischiefe on?
1611 C. Tourneur Atheist's Trag.
(new ed.)
ii. sig. D4
My plot still rises, According to the modell of mine owne desires.
1618 W. Lawson New Orchard & Garden Pref. sig. A3v
The Stationer hath..bestowed much cost and care in hauing the Knots and Models by the best Artizan cutte in great varietie.
1625 Bacon Ess.
(new ed.)
279
So I haue made a Platforme of a Princely Garden, Partly by Precept, Partly by Drawing, not a Modell, but some generall Lines of it.
1714 Swift Some Free Thoughts upon Present State Affairs
(1741)
7
When a Building is to be erected, the Model may be the Contrivance only of one Head.
1570—1714(Hide quotations)
b. A description of structure. Obsolete. rare.
1578 T. Digges in L. Digges Progn. Everlasting To Rdr. M
I founde a description or Modill of the world and situation of Spheres Cœlestial and Elementare according to the doctrine of Ptolome.
1578 T. Digges in L. Digges Progn. Everlasting To Rdr. M
But in this our age one rare witte..hath by long studie,..deliuered a new Theoricke, or model of the world, shewing that the earth resteth not in the Center of the whole world, but only in the Center of thys our mortal world.
1578—1578(Hide quotations)
c. A summary, epitome, abstract; the argument of a literary work. Obsolete.
a1626 Bacon Let. to T. Matthew in J. Spedding Life & Lett.
(1870)
IV. 133
Of this, when you were here, I shewed you some model.
a1627 T. Middleton Women beware Women v. ii, in 2 New Playes
(1657)
191
The Actors that this model here discovers, Are onely four.
a1649 J. Winthrop Hist. New Eng.
(1826)
(modernized text)
II. 231
That treatise about arbitrary government, which he first tendered to the deputies in a model, and finding it approved by some, and silence in others, he drew it up more at large.
1769 H. Brooke Fool of Quality IV. xvii. 126
I have now..given you the..unformed rudiments of our Britannic constitution. And here I deliver to you my little model of the finished construction there of.
a1626—1769(Hide quotations)
2.
a. Something which accurately resembles or represents something else, esp. on a small scale; a person or thing that is the likeness of another. Frequently in the (very) model of .
1594 T. Nashe Vnfortunate Traveller sig. K2
What a thing is heauen in comparison of thee, of which Mercators globe is a perfecter modell than thou art?
1597 Shakespeare Richard II i. ii. 28
Thou doost consent In some large measure to thy fathers death, In that thou seest thy wretched brother die, Who was the modell of thy fathers life.
1603 M. Drayton Barrons Wars iv. xxxiv. 87
Seeing Lundy that so faire doth stand..This little modell of his banish'd Land.
1604 Shakespeare Hamlet v. ii. 51
I had my fathers signet in my purse Which was the modill of that Danish seale.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 21
Delighted (as the Father in his Childe) in this new modell of himselfe.
a1616 Shakespeare Henry V
(1623)
ii. 0. 16
O England: Modell to thy inward Greatnesse, Like little Body with a mightie Heart.
1665 S. Patrick Parable of Pilgrim xv. 131
These quiet places are the resemblances of the serene regions above, and little models of heaven.
1720 C. Beckingham Henry IV p. xii
Our Author's Scenes from France their Hero bring, To shew the Perfect-Model of a King.
1749 T. Smollett tr. A. R. Le Sage Gil Blas IV. x. xii. 115
If Scipio in his childhood was a real Picaro, he has corrected his conduct so well since that time, that he is now the model of a perfect servant.
1776 J. Bentham Fragm. on Govt. iii. §8 105
A Duke's son gets a seat in the House of Commons. There needs no more to make him the very model of an Athenian cobbler.
1809 W. Irving Hist. N.Y. II. vi. i. 62
A gigantic Swede,..who, had he not been..splay-footed, might have served for the model of a Samson.
1824 J. Hogg Private Mem. Justified Sinner 138
The likeness to my late hapless young master is so striking, that I can hardly believe it to be a chance model.
1879 W. S. Gilbert Pirates of Penzance i
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
1899 S. R. Crockett Little Anna Mark
(1900)
lii. 438
He minds me of Sir James—the very model of Sir James.
1936 J. Buchan Island of Sheep i. vi. 110
He started at every noise. He was the very model of a nervous wreck.
1980 ‘J. le Carré’ Smiley's People xxi. 259
Today was a model of last week, last week was a model of the week before, George.
1993 Q Jan. 119/3
Cruise is the very model of a modern movie star.
1594—1993(Hide quotations)
b. An archetypal image or pattern. rare.
1745 E. Young Consolation 67
When shall I..Gaze on Creation's Model in Thy Breast Unveil'd, nor wonder at the Transcript more?
1785 T. Reid Ess. Intellect. Powers 421
Every work of art has its model framed in the imagination.
1849 G. G. Foster in S. M. Blumin N.Y. by Gaslight
(1991)
216
There are three distinct classes of eating-houses, and each has its model or type.
1745—1849(Hide quotations)
†3. A small portrait, as on a medal; (hence also) a medal. Obsolete.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. vi. 225
You, that haue seene within this ample Table, Among so many Models [1608 Modules] admirable [Fr. parmy tant de pourtraits], Th' admired beauties of the King of Creatures.
1622 G. de Malynes Consuetudo 356
Modells or Medalia to be worne by the said hundreth persons of the societie, and the Masters of counting houses.
1626 R. Boyle in Lismore Papers
(1886)
II. 190
I receaved..a chayn, and the kings picture or modull of gowld fastened to the chayn of gold.
1658 I. Walton Life of Donne
(ed. 2)
91
That model of Gold of the Synod of Dort, with which the States presented him at his last being at the Hague.
1605—1658(Hide quotations)
4.
a. A three-dimensional representation, esp. on a small scale, of a person or thing or of a projected or existing structure; esp. one showing the component parts in accurate proportion and relative disposition.
1611 T. Heywood Golden Age i. sig. B4
Enter Saturne with wedges of gold and siluer, models of ships, and buildings, bow and arrowes, &c.
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 221
Menelaus with fiftie ships, sent him only one, with the models of the other in clay, to colour his perjury.
1662 S. Pepys Diary 30 July
(1970)
III. 149
Cooper..begun his lecture upon the body of a ship—which my having of a modell in the office is of great use to me, and very pleasant and useful it is.
1665 J. Moxon tr. Barozzio Vignola
(1702)
76
If they were all cut out, and placed one above another..you would..have the Model of a true pair of Stairs.
1727 D. Defoe Syst. Magick i. i. 31
Prometheus, who..is feign'd by the Poets to have first form'd Man, that is to say, form'd the Model of a Man by the help of Water and Earth; and then stole Fire from the Sun to animate the Model.
1766 tr. F. Hasselquist Voy. & Trav. Levant 149
They..force them to buy..models of the grave of Christ.
1824 ‘R. Stuart’ Descr. Hist. Steam Engine 96
The university's collection of mechanical and philosophical models.
1832 G. Downes Lett. from Continental Countries I. 192
A model of William Tell stands opposite another of his son. They are formed of wood.
1852 A. Jameson Legends Monastic Orders
(ed. 2)
149
At his feet is a small model of a hill.
1939 J. B. Morton Bonfire of Weeds i. 23
The author appears to be able to make everything, from a model of the Palace of Justice in Brussels to a bust of his aunt, out of cheese.
1957 L. Durrell Justine i. 34
He had a model of the perfect woman built in rubber—life-size.
1973 T. Pynchon Gravity's Rainbow iii. 341
Often she will dream some dainty pasteboard model, a city-planner's city,..so tiny her bootsoles could wipe out neighbourhoods at a step.
1611—1973(Hide quotations)
b. Art. An object or figure made in clay, wax, etc., as an aid to the execution of the final form of a sculpture or other work of art; a maquette. Formerly (also): †a sketch or study made for a painting (obsolete).In quot. 1613 fig.
1613 J. Marston & W. Barksted Insatiate Countesse v. i. sig. I
Imagine that she had a Lord, Iealous, the Aire should rauish her chaste lookes: Doating like the creator in his models.
1686 W. Aglionby Painting Illustr.
(new ed.)
Explan. Terms
Model, Is any Object that a Painter works by, either after Nature, or otherwise; but most commonly it signifies that which Sculptors, Painters, and Architects make to Govern themselves by in their Design.
1695 Dryden in tr. C. A. Du Fresnoy De Arte Graphica Pref. p. xliv
To make a Sketch, or a more perfect Model of a Picture, is in the language of Poets, to draw up the Scenary of a Play.
1699 M. Lister Journey to Paris
(new ed.)
43
Monsieur Gerardon..made..the Statua Equestris designed for the Place de Vendosme; he told me he had been almost ten years in making the Model with assiduity and daily application.
1801 R. Cecil Wks.
(1811)
I. 138
An instrument for transferring the form of the model to the marble.
1845 Encycl. Metrop. VIII. 456/1
He [sc. the mould maker] then pours the semi-fluid around and over the [clay] model until the upper part has the designed thickness.
1856 Eng. Cycl., Biogr. II. 929
[article Flaxman] The contents of his studio included nearly all his working models, casts of all his chief works, &c.
1951 H. Read Meaning of Art
(ed. 3)
ii. 240
The sculptor's maquette, or model, was reproduced, generally by other hands, either by being cast in bronze, or by being reproduced to scale by mechanical methods in marble.
1966 H. Moore On Sculpture 220
I could only promise to make notebook drawings from which I would do small clay models.
1613—1966(Hide quotations)
†5. = mould n.3 9a. Obsolete. rare.See note at sense A. 15a; quot. a1616 at sense A. 1a placed under this sense in N.E.D. (1907) is now reassigned to sense A. 2a.
1636 in R. W. Cochran-Patrick Rec. Coinage Scotl.
(1876)
II. 106
[The melted bullion] is poured out in a grit irne modell quhilk is drawen thairto with chanells.
1636—1636(Hide quotations)
†6. Plastering. A tool for moulding a cornice, having a pattern in profile which is impressed on the plaster by working the tool backwards and forwards. Obsolete.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 606
Plastering. The tools of the plasterer consist of..rules called straight-edges; and wood models.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 606
The models or moulds are for running plain mouldings, cornices, &c.
1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. ii. iii. 587
The plasterer's tools are—a spade or shovel..stopping and picking out tools..wood models.
1825—1842(Hide quotations)
7. Dentistry. A positive copy of the teeth or oral cavity which is cast in metal, plaster, etc., from an impression, and which may be used to construct dental appliances.
1839 C. A. Harris Dental Art xxi. 348
The obtaining of a model of the alveolar ridge, or ridges, when one for each jaw is required, though apparently very easy, is nevertheless often attended with some difficulty.
1857 Brit. Jrnl. Dental Sci. 1 579/1
Mr. Saunders thought that the plan of bending down the front part of the model could be fatal to a correct impression.
1917 F. A. Peeso Crown & Bridge-work vii. 140
When the plaster for the impression has been tinted, the impression and model are easily distinguished by the difference in coloring.
1938 Dental Rec. 58 14
I think, from a study of the original models, that there had probably been pyorrhœa for some years.
1940 J. Osborne Dental Mech. i. 1
The introduction..to the subject is the technique necessary for the accurate construction of a model, or positive likeness of the patient's mouth, from an impression or negative likeness.
1973 D. H. Roberts Fixed Bridge Prostheses v. 66
Only one model can be poured from each impression.
1839—1973(Hide quotations)
8.
a. A simplified or idealized description or conception of a particular system, situation, or process, often in mathematical terms, that is put forward as a basis for theoretical or empirical understanding, or for calculations, predictions, etc.; a conceptual or mental representation of something. Frequently with modifying word. Cf. sense A. 1b. mathematical model n. a description or representation of something conceived or presented in mathematical terms.
1901 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 64 392
If this symbolism, this model, is too complex to admit of the application of existing mathematical apparatus, then a simplification is effected by omitting one complicating condition after another, until the symbolic model is brought within the range of the measuring capacities of the investigator.
1906 Jrnl. Philos., Psychol. & Sci. Methods 3 537
The physical scientist selects among these mathematical models such as will enable him best to manipulate or anticipate his facts.
1913 N. Bohr in London, Edinb., & Dublin Philos. Mag. 6th Ser. 26 1
According to this [sc. Rutherford's] theory, the atoms consist of a positively charged nucleus surrounded by a system of electrons [etc.]... Great interest is to be attributed to this atom-model.
1940 Econ. Jrnl. 50 91
Previous models of the Trade Cycle..have thus mostly been based on the assumption of statically stable situations.
1958 Listener 11 Dec. 972/1
I want to discuss the cosmological theories which are generally classed as the evolutionary models of the universe.
1964 Arch. Pathol. 78 390/1
The usual laboratory animals such as rabbits, rats,..and dogs have been subject to a myriad of procedures designed to produce ‘models’ of human disease.
1973 Sci. Amer. Dec. 117/1
There are many other varieties of speech error. All of them must be accounted for in a model of speech production.
1990 A. Stevens On Jung iii. 28
We can represent Jung's model of the psyche in the form of a diagram.
1997 New Scientist 19 Apr. 11/3
His unpublished calculations, using sophisticated mathematical models of air turbulence, reveal that no breaking wave should have come anywhere near the DC-8.
1901—1997(Hide quotations)
b. Mathematical Logic. A set of entities that satisfies all the formulae of a given formal or axiomatic system.
1940 W. V. Quine Math. Logic vi. 271
The fact that such classes constitute a model of the traditional real number system was pointed out by Dedekind.
1948 Jrnl. Symbolic Logic 13 16
(heading)
Models of logical systems.
1952 S. C. Kleene Introd. Metamath. ii. 25
When the objects of the system are known only through the relationships of the system, the system is abstract... Then any further specification of what the objects are gives a representation (or model) of the abstract system, i.e. a system of objects which satisfy the relationships of the abstract system and have some further status as well.
1963 W. V. Quine Set Theory vi. 135
We have provided a model of arithmetic in set theory when we have provided a way of so reinterpreting arithmetical notations in set-theoretic terms as to carry the truths of arithmetic into truths of set theory.
1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XI. 639/2
By Gödel's completeness theorem of 1930, if a formal system based on the first-order functional calculus F is consistent, there is a model in which the objects are the natural numbers.
1982 W. S. Hatcher Logical Found. Math. i. 32
By a model for F we mean any interpretation of F in which the proper axioms of F are all true.
1940—1982(Hide quotations)
II. An object of imitation.
9.
a. A person, or a work, that is proposed or adopted for imitation; an exemplar. Later also: a person or place on which a fictional character, location, etc., is based.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Apol. Poetrie
(1595)
sig. K
It is very defectious in the circumstaunces; which greeueth mee, because it might not remaine as an exact model of all Tragedies.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. i. 274
Ye Pagan Poets..; from henceforth still be dumb Your fabled praises of Elisium, Which by this goodly modell [1608 Module] you haue wrought.
1639 N. N. tr. J. Du Bosc Compl. Woman i. E ivv
The desire we have to become like to some goodly model.
1694 E. Gibson Let. 1 Feb. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Literary Men
(1843)
217
I had a letter last night from Dr. Parsons, with a fresh request to send him down a [history of a] Countie finish'd, from whence he might take a model to adjust his own materials.
1714 J. Gay Let. to Lady 31
I then resolved some model to pursue, Perused French critics, and began anew.
1739 tr. C. Rollin Anc. Hist.
(ed. 2)
VIII. 214
Which young officers should propose to themselves as a model.
1817 W. Whewell Let. in M. Moorman William Wordsworth
(1965)
II. ix. 325
His [sc. Coleridge's] critique on the Daffodils might serve as a model for similar strictures on all Wordsworth's Wordsworthian poems.
1837 E. Bulwer-Lytton Ernest Maltravers I. iii. ii. 267
Models may form our taste as critics, but do not excite us to be authors.
1838 R. W. Emerson Addr. Divinity Coll. 26
Imitation cannot go above its model.
1876 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest
(ed. 2)
IV. xix. 419
[The church] of Rouen, we are told, being his special and immediate model.
1916 G. B. Shaw Androcles & Lion Epil. 51
The Empire which served for my model when I wrote Androcles was..much nearer my home than the German one.
1954 T. S. Eliot Confidential Clerk iii. 130
You had your father before you, as a model; You knew your inheritance.
1972 F. Fitzgerald Fire in Lake i. 15
As the family provided the model for village and state, there was only one type of organization.
1985 P. Auster N.Y. Trilogy
(1988)
i. iv. 34
The Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk (thought by some to be the model for Robinson Crusoe).
a1586—1985(Hide quotations)
b. Biology. An animal or plant to which another bears a mimetic resemblance.
1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 127/1
Probably this beetle shared in the immunity from attack accorded to its model.
1907 Nature 31 Oct. 673/2
An insect thus resembled by another is spoken of as its ‘model’, the imitating insect is called a ‘mimic’.
1930 R. A. Fisher Genetical Theory Nat. Selection 148
The resemblance which is favourable to the mimic will be for the same reason disadvantageous to the model.
1968 R. D. Martin tr. W. Wickler Mimicry in Plants & Animals i. 16
(caption)
Leaf beetles..serve as models for roaches.., which are palatable and resemble their models so closely that they are also avoided by predators.
1968 R. D. Martin tr. W. Wickler Mimicry in Plants & Animals iv. 43
This weed [sc. rye-weed]..is less demanding and tougher than its model, the wheat plant.
1994 Nature 24 Feb. 684/1
The mimic streak-headed honeyeater is never attacked by its oriole model.
1877—1994(Hide quotations)
c. Social Psychology. A person who models or exemplifies a desired behaviour. Cf. model v. 11.
1926 L. L. Bernard Introd. Social Psychol. xxi. 323
The initiative in conditioning these imitative responses may be taken by either the imitator or the model who is imitated.
1962 Nebraska Symp. on Motivation 10 221
Association of a model with rewards promotes precise imitation of the model's behavior.
1989 P. Randall & C. Gibb Professionals & Parents 56
The parent ‘models’ the desirable behaviour that they wish the child to learn. The child's initial attempts to imitate this model should be rewarded.
1926—1989(Hide quotations)
10. A person or thing eminently worthy of imitation; a perfect exemplar of some excellence. Also: a representative specimen of some quality.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia
(1593)
iv. sig. Ll6
These vnfortunate louers..not forgetting with viny embracements, to giue any eye a perfect modell of affection.
1598 R. Carew Herrings Tayle sig. B4v
Amazement..forst him pay the eye his debt, Who this modell of beautie curiously suruaide, Where nature all her art, art her wit displaide.
1638 David's Troubles Remembred f. 9v
In thy face I see a modell of all heavenly grace.
1710 M. Chudleigh Ess. Several Subj. sig. B6
Our Blessed Saviour has exalted Ethicks to the sublimest height, and his admirable Sermon on the Mount, is the noblest, the exactest Model of Perfection.
1788 A. Seward Lett.
(1811)
II. 104
A man [sc. Johnson] who, hating dissenters of all denominations, held up the writings of Clarke and the life of Watts as models of perfection.
1795 W. Paley View Evidences Christianity
(ed. 3)
II. ii. ii. 63
The Lord's prayer is a model of calm devotion.
1805 N. Nicholls Reminisc. Gray in Corr. with Gray
(1843)
43
Mr. Gray thought the narrative of Thucydides the model of history.
1868 A. C. Swinburne W. Blake 16
Their vivid and vigorous style is often a model in its kind.
1871 E. F. Burr Ad Fidem xi. 211
Models of pure and noble conduct.
1952 P. Bowles Let it come Down ii. x. 119
‘I guess there are plenty of untrustworthy people here..’, he said. ‘Untrustworthy!’ cried Mr. Holland. ‘The place is a model of corruption!’
1976 E. Fromm To have or to Be?
(1979)
ii. v. 97
The closer we are to arriving at the model of human nature, the greater are our freedom and well-being.
1985 E. Kuzwayo Call me Woman ii. vii. 103
She was a perfect model of womanhood, full of charm, beauty and dignity.
a1586—1985(Hide quotations)
11.
a. A person or (less commonly) a thing serving as an object to be copied or depicted by an artist, sculptor, etc.; a person employed to pose for this purpose.
1691 A. Gavin Frauds Romish Monks
(ed. 3)
391
[She] commonly serv'd for a Model to the Limners of the Academy.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word)
In the Academies they give the Term Model to a naked Man, disposed in several Postures.
1760–1 C. Lennox Ladies Museum I. xcii
He [sc. Sir Anthony Van Dyck] kept men and women for models to paint by.
1845 Dickens Let. 18 Mar.
(1977)
IV. 280
The drollest thing I have seen, is a daily gathering of Artists' ‘Models’ on the steps of a church.
1860 N. Hawthorne Marble Faun I. ii. 31
One of those living models..whom artists convert into saints or assassins, according as their pictorial purposes demand.
1891 R. Kipling Light that Failed ix. 187
But remember, old man, she isn't a woman: she's my model; and be careful.
1938 N. Marsh Artists in Crime iv. 44
The classes..worked from the model every morning in the studio.
1951 S. Spender World within World i. 22
Ella consented to be my model for hours on end.
1999 Daily Tel. 22 Jan. 23/1
The artists' model made famous by Francis Bacon had wanted a church funeral near Cheyne Walk.
1691—1999(Hide quotations)
b. A person employed to wear clothes for display, or to appear in displays of other goods.Originally used of women, and still usually understood in this sense unless preceded by a modifying word, as child, male, etc.
1904 Books of To-day May 3
One of the models of the establishment came gracefully towards me.
a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox
(1917)
II. i. 7
She was dressed in the sleek tight-fitting trying-on robe of the professional model.
1959 Guardian 26 Oct. 7/7
If the men were only going to become part-time models, they would need to go on doing one or two lessons a fortnight.
1994 Arena Sept. 145/2
Every fashion model worth his pout is wearing a pair of sidies.
1904—1994(Hide quotations)
c. euphem. A prostitute.
1963 Observer 3 Nov. 33/1
‘Company director’ and ‘model’ are useful euphemisms for those who appear in dubious court cases.
1968 J. Lock Lady Policeman ii. 19
There had been an increase of newsagents' notice-board ads for ‘Models’.
1970 G. Greer Female Eunuch 195
Working as hostesses in high-class clubs, as ‘models’ or simply walking the streets.
1972 Screw 12 June 33/4
(advt.)
Young male nude model. Experienced, handsome... Completely versatile and cooperative. Your place or mine.
1963—1972(Hide quotations)
12. colloq.
a. Chiefly Austral. Short for model prison n. at Special uses. Also: time served in a model prison; esp. in to do model . the Model (now hist.): Pentonville Prison in London, opened in 1842, on the design of which many later prisons were based; (also) Port Arthur Prison, Tasmania, closely resembling Pentonville.
1845 Cumberland Times
(Parramatta)
27 Dec. 4/3
Forgery is become of common occurrence in Melbourne - the last offender was one of the recently arrived ‘model’ pets.
1856 H. Mayhew Great World London 113
This is Pentonville Prison, vulgarly known as ‘the Model’, and situate[d] in the Caledonian Road.
1910 L. Esson Three Short Plays
(1911)
14
Constable: How did he take it? It was his first stretch in the Jug. Smithy: Rotten. I done model with him.
1981 M. Weidenhofer Port Arthur 76
In every respect, except in its size, the separate prison at Port Arthur—or The Model, as it came to be known—resembled Pentonville.
1845—1981(Hide quotations)
b. In plural. Short for model dwellings n. at Special uses. Now rare.
1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 5 Oct. 4/2
The parish has gone down..and the building of the ‘models’ has not made it better.
1896 Daily Chron. 25 Aug. 5/6
The ordinary streets and the smaller models, which make up the bulk of the Ghetto, as we find it in Whitechapel [etc.].
1900 Daily News 25 Oct. 3/4
The overcrowding per acre caused by ‘models’ was just as unhealthy as overcrowding per room.
1887—1900(Hide quotations)
c. Sc. Short for model lodging house n. at Special uses.
1899 ‘J. Flynt’ Tramping with Tramps ii. 233
The price..is threepence a night, and this is the common price all over Great Britain, except in the so-called ‘Models’, where a penny more is charged simply for the very deceitful name.
1927 Scots Observer 26 Mar. 10/3
The lowest of the derelicts spent the night..in a ‘flophouse’ (which is worse than the lowest ‘model’).
1935 A. MacArthur & H. K. Long No Mean City xix. 282
‘A model’ in Gallowgate—one of those buildings which are ironically termed ‘Working Men's Hotels’.
1985 M. Munro Patter 46
Model lodging house, a hostel for the single homeless, often shortened to model: ‘Ye can go an stay in the model for aw Ah care’.
1899—1985(Hide quotations)
III. A type or design.
13. Style of structure or form; design, structural type; build, make.
a. Of systems, institutions, and other immaterial things.
1591 M. Sutcliffe Treat. Eccl. Discipline i. 8
As the autors of these stirres are ignorant, so their plats and models are ignarantly and absurdly defectiue.
1593 G. Harvey Pierces Supererogation 10
Such a new-deuised modell, as neuer saw Sun before.
1629 J. Ford Lovers Melancholy iv. i. 62
The modell of the Heauens, the Earth, the Waters, The harmony, and sweet consent of times, Are not of such an excellence..as [etc.].
1656 J. Harrington Common-wealth of Oceana 52
That the Archives of ancient prudence should be ransackt, before any Counsellour should presume to offer any other matter..towards the consideration to be had by the Councill upon a Modell of Government.
a1731 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Gentleman
(1890)
22
Exactly after the modelle of the Common-wealth of Rome.
1759 W. Robertson Hist. Scotl. viii, in Wks.
(1851)
II. 239
Such acts as..paved the way for a full and legal establishment of the presbyterian model.
1764 S. Foote Mayor of Garret ii. 28
He will put us into the model of the thing at once.
1816 S. W. Singer Researches Hist. Playing Cards 218
Whether this was a re-impression of Murner's book, or a new one on the same model we know not.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People viii. §5. 508
The new faith..borrowed from Calvin its model of Church government.
1913 Amer. Jrnl. Internat. Law 7 262
The military and police forces of the Sultan are being reorganized on the French model.
1991 Nation 11 Feb. 148/2
Two contending camps: those who favored a ‘geo-economic’ approach based on enhanced U.S. competitiveness in world trade along the lines of the Japanese and West German models, and those [etc.].
1993 Western Canada Aviation Museum Aviation Rev. Sept. 8/1
Canadian wings were patterned after the Royal Air Force model until the Canadian Forces were integrated and unified in 1968.
1591—1993(Hide quotations)
b. Of material structures.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. xiv. 23
A fault no lesse grieuous,..then if some King should build his mansion house by the modell of Salomons palace.
1660 F. Brooke tr. V. Le Blanc World Surveyed 46
This Town is..built very stately at the Italian model.
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 107
These Vessels that are for this Voyage are huge unshapen things, and bear both the Name and Model of their old Junks.
1751 S. Whatley England's Gazetteer
Putney..has a Ch. after the same model with that of Fulham.
1829 I. Taylor Nat. Hist. Enthusiasm iii. 62
All His works are perfect, both in model and in movement.
1838 E. A. Poe Ligeia in Tales of Grotesque & Arabesque
(1840)
183
There was the couch, too—the bridal couch—of an Indian model, and low.
1906 J. G. Horner Mod. Milling Machines v. 130
That large and growing group of machines which is built on the model of the common planing machine, with bed, table, housings, and cross rail.
1948 R. Raven-Hart Canoe in Austral. 47
They could go off..to build ‘gunyahs’, shelters after the aboriginal model.
1597—1948(Hide quotations)
†c. Also Model. The plan for the reorganization of the English parliamentary army, passed by the House of Commons in 1644–5; (also) the parliamentary army, following its reorganization according to this plan. See also new model n. and adj. Obsolete.In early use also: any army compared or likened to the reorganized parliamentary army in some way (in quot. 1653 used of a Scottish army raised in rebellion against the Commonwealth).
1645 O. Cromwell Let. 4 June in Lett. & Speeches
(1845)
I. 209
That you would be pleased to make Captain Rawlins..a Captain of Horse. He has been so before; was nominated to the Model.
1653 Let. of Intelligence July in C. H. Firth Scotl. & Commonw.
(1895)
185
The claus of the commission concernein the Commander in cheife was, they should chuse whome they would Middleton being content with him, therefore 'tis thought that Midleton will be chused cheife of their modell.
a1675 B. Whitelocke Memorials Eng. Affairs
(1682)
anno 1645 118/2
They [sc. the House of Commons]..debated about the new Model of the Army.
1645—a1675(Hide quotations)
d. An article of clothing of a particular style, which is produced for show by a designer, or fashionable in a particular season, etc.
1859 Southern Lit. Messenger Jan. 14/2
A quarter of a yard longer at the bottom, and as much shorter at the top, than the Parisian models.
1880 Queen 12 June
(advt.)
Messrs Jay import from the first houses in Paris. Models of every style.
1906 Bazaar, Exchange & Mart Suppl. 3 Oct. 1308/1
Great bargains in ladies' wearing apparel, new and equal to new. Paris models.
1933 N. Coward Design for Living i. 22
A silly pride made me..parade my attraction for you, like a mannequin. New spring model, with a few extra flounces!
1975 Times 29 July 8/5
The Valentino collection is untypically small... Strikes..have dogged the production of the models.
1859—1975(Hide quotations)
e. A particular make or design of motor vehicle or (in later use) any manufactured article; an item made to such a design, or produced in a specified year; each of a series of designs for the same type of object (frequently attributive, usually with following numeral or sequential letter). Also in extended use.See also Model T n. at Compounds 2.
1900 Automobile Topics 22 Dec. 366/1
For sale. Two-passenger Winton, 1900 model, in first-class condition.
1901 Automobile Topics 21 Sept. 848
Type No. 2. Model ‘C’—12 HP. Double Cylinder Gasoline Engine.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 2 Nov. 5/1
The engine of the 20-h.p. model..is of the monobloc order.
1927 Motor Cycling 7 Dec. 102
(heading)
Road tests of 1928 models.
1930 H. Crane Let. 29 Dec.
(1965)
360
The middle west business man, approved panic model of 1931.
1942 E. Paul Narrow Street ii. 17
Mary drew from somewhere inside her waist a dog-eared American passport of a model no longer in vogue.
1968 Listener 23 May 670/1
There are still 405-line-only models, which cannot be converted, on sale.
1987 D. Rowe Beyond Fear xi. 384
Accepting yourself means..giving up shopping around for an alternative self, a better model.
1900—1987(Hide quotations)
14. Music. The particular curvature of surface of a violin, viol, etc.
1833 T. Fardely tr. J. A. Otto Treat. Violin i. 5
The form, or model, is then scooped or worked out according to the taste of the artists.
1836 G. Dubourg Violin ix. 232
The instruments by the three Amati are rather higher, or less flat, in the model than those of Straduarius.
1848 J. Bishop tr. J. A. Otto Treat. Violin
(1875)
i. 4
The even side [of the wood for the violin's back or belly] is then smoothed and the model traced on it.
1931 A. Hill et al. Violin Makers Guarneri Family iii. 49
We shall miss that orthodox ‘Andrea Guarneri’ of small Amati form, with its light edges and corners, f-holes of small design, full breasted model, and low sides.
1833—1931(Hide quotations)
†IV. Other uses, mainly parallel to senses of module n.
15. a. Scale of construction; allotted measure; the measure of a person's ability or capacity. Cf. module n. 1. Obsolete.The meaning in quot. 1597 at sense A. 2a is unclear. Commentators have suggested that it applies either to the flesh or to the soil of the grave; in N.E.D. (1907) the quot. was placed at sense A. 5, along with senses relating to shaping, moulding, and small-scale representation. However, the corresponding sense of module is of comparable date, and the quot. has been reassigned on this basis; see also:
a. Scale of construction; allotted measure; the measure of a person's ability or capacity. Cf. module n. 1. Obsolete.The meaning in quot. 1597 at sense A. 2a is unclear. Commentators have suggested that it applies either to the flesh or to the soil of the grave; in N.E.D. (1907) the quot. was placed at sense A. 5, along with senses relating to shaping, moulding, and small-scale representation. However, the corresponding sense of module is of comparable date, and the quot. has been reassigned on this basis; see also:1807 F. Douce Illustr. Shakspeare I. 410
Model or module, for they were the same in Shakespeare's time, seems to mean in this place, a measure, portion, or quantity.
1807 F. Douce Illustr. Shakspeare I. 410
Model or module, for they were the same in Shakespeare's time, seems to mean in this place, a measure, portion, or quantity.
1597 Shakespeare Richard II iii. ii. 149
Nothing can we call our owne, but death: And that small modle of the barren earth, Which serues as paste, and couer to our bones.
1604 R. Cawdrey Table Alphabet.
Modell, measure.
1605 Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning i. sig. K3v
An Errour ordinarie with Counsellors of Princes, that they counsell their Maisters according to the modell of their owne mind and fortune.
1623 R. Carpenter Conscionable Christian 39
Hauing..spoken..(according to the modell of time allotted for me to speake, and you to heare) of the reall religious practice [etc.].
1624 Bp. F. White Replie to Iesuit Fishers Answere 301
We are farre from appointing ignorant persons to be Iudges of that which exceedeth their modill and skill.
1625 Bacon Of Unity in Relig. in Ess.
(1862)
427
Of this I may giue onely this Aduice, according to my small Modell.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxiv. 130
Thus much (considering the modell of the whole worke) is sufficient.
1662 H. Hibbert Syntagma Theologicum 206
Shall any reduce and shrink up the thoughts and wayes of God to their narrow and straitned model?
1675 R. Baxter Catholick Theol. ii. i. 278
I tell you the Ignorant and Carnal sort of Priests and Fryers did each man talk according to his Model, and so do all Sects.
1597—1807(Hide quotations)
b. Compass, extent of space. Obsolete. rare.
c1605 in J. Lyly Wks.
(1902)
III. 493
The thundringe God whose all-embracinge powre Circles ye modell of this spatious rounde.
c1605—c1605(Hide quotations)
16. Architecture. = module n. 3b. Obsolete.
1598 R. Haydocke tr. G. P. Lomazzo Tracte Artes Paintinge i. 89
But because Vitruvius measureth this order by models [It. moduli],..I purpose likewise to keepe the same course, making the diameter of this columne at the base, to consist of two models, whose height with the base and Capitell shal be fourteene models.
1665 J. Moxon tr. Barozzio Vignola
(1702)
To Rdr.
Our Author to avoid that..certain uncertainty hath reduc'd all his measure, to a convenient and universal measure, which is called by the Name of a Model [It. modulo]: The invention whereof hath made the whole Art of Architecture very easie.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words
(new ed.)
Module or Model, (in Architect.) a kind of Measure, the Diameter of the Bottom of a pillar in each order, by which its Length, etc. is measured.
1598—1706(Hide quotations)
17. Architecture. = modillion n. Obsolete.
1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 39
The Models in the Cornishes may be just over the middle of the Column.
1663—1663(Hide quotations)
B. adj. (chiefly attributive).
1. That is a model or example; serving or intended to serve as a pattern for imitation; exemplary, ideal. Frequently in model city, model farm, model town (see also sense A. 3).
1831 H. Kilham Jrnl. 24 Apr.
(1837)
xiv. 400
A village-school, with even a small farm attached..would, if it were conducted as a model-farm,..be a great advantage.
1843 M. Fuller in Dial July 11
Lectures on some model-woman of bridal-like beauty and gentleness.
1845 Builder 18 Jan. 35/2
The so-called model houses in the Bagnigge-wells-road.
1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits v. 84
Sir Kenelm Digby..was a model Englishman.
1857 C. Kingsley Two Years Ago I. Introd. p. xxii
There's my lord's..model cottages, with more comforts in them, saving the size, than my father's house had.
1860 All Year Round 26 May 161
A mill-owner, whose mill, I was assured, was a model one.
1885 Public Opinion 9 Jan. 32/1
A model Bishop of London is..more easily imagined than discovered.
1891 Tablet 2 May 694
How did so model a youth get on at the University?
1898 E. Howard To-morrow iv. 41
Another site for a model city could be purchased.
1909 Chambers's Jrnl. Feb. 87/1
It [sc. Kinlochleven] is built on the model-town system.
1970 G. E. Evans Where Beards wag All xi. 117
A farmer who had a few years before built himself a model farm with the most up-to-date farm buildings and all the latest equipment.
1986 B. Gilroy Frangipani House i. 4
As a model inmate Mama King was allowed to walk around the grounds.
1831—1986(Hide quotations)
2. That is a model or representation of something else, esp. on a small scale; esp. designating a miniature reproduction of a building, machine, vehicle, etc., constructed for pleasure, as model aeroplane, model railway, etc.
1850 G. Cayley Jrnl. 28 Mar. in C. H. Gibbs-Smith Cayley's Aeronautics
(1962)
§44. 140
I have drawn one of the wings made for my model apparatus.
1877 Spirit of Times 15 Dec. 537/1
(advt.)
Marine Screw Engines and Boilers for driving Model Yachts from 1 to 10 feet in length.
a1894 R. L. Stevenson In South Seas
(1896)
iv. vi. 353
On Tamaiti's medicine-tree..the model canoes are hung up ex voto for a prosperous voyage.
1906 E. Nesbit Railway Children i. 3
Peter had a birthday—his tenth. Among his other presents he had a model engine.
1909
(title of periodical)
Model railways and locomotives.
1912 S. Leacock Sunshine Sketches iv. 101
If a man is trying to make a model aeroplane..and he is brought to a stop by the need of reckoning the coefficient of torsion of cast-iron rods, it shows [etc.].
1920Model aeroplane [see model dwellings n. at Special uses].
1936 Jrnl. Higher Educ. 7 74/2
No little brother can cry at him to help carve and fit together a model airplane.
1938 Daily Herald 21 Dec. 6/1
The collecting of model soldiers is a nursery pastime elevated into the dignity of an adult occupation by the word ‘research’.
1950 Sci. News 15 83
Rockets are powerful research tools... Their value in aerodynamics lies in their ability to propel full-sized or model aircraft..at supersonic speeds in order that the unknown aerodynamic forces in play at these speeds can be measured.
1969 D. E. Westlake Up your Banners
(1970)
xxxviii. 274
[He] never had a model train set when he was young.
1973 Country Life 17 May 1385/1
Model soldiers have gone far beyond the realm of child's play and toy soldiers.
1974 Times 8 Feb. 15/5
Pursuits such as whippet racing and model aircraft flying.
1992 Canad. Geographic Jan. 10/1
The ornithopter looks like a propellerless model airplane.
1850—1992(Hide quotations)
Compounds
C1. General attributive (chiefly in sense A. 11).
a.
model day n.
1873 W. Morris in J. W. Mackail Life W. Morris
(1899)
I. 301
I keep it up, dreading the model day like I used to dread Sunday.
1873—1873(Hide quotations)
model-room n.
1829 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr.
(1886)
III. 103
A Model Room for the Jacksonian Professor.
1882 Harper's Mag. July 239/1
He was soon promoted to the mould loft, model-room, and drawing-room.
1829—1882(Hide quotations)
model-stand n.
1876 Appletons' Jrnl. Jan. 22 108/1
The model-stand, which generally occupied the centre of the room, had been rolled near the entrance-door, and upon it stood a manikin.
1899 W. C. Morrow Bohemian Paris 43
They placed the helpless M. Haidor on the model-stand.
1934 A. Woollcott While Rome Burns
(1936)
16
She had that sweet composure of the spirit which made it an effortless thing for her to sit hour after hour on the model-stand.
1876—1934(Hide quotations)
model-throne n.
1894 Harper's Mag. Feb. 342/1
She sounded her war-cry at the studio door and went in and made kind inquiries, and sitting cross-legged on the model-throne, ate her bread and cheese.
1898 T. Watts-Dunton Aylwin viii. ii
A..burly woman,..standing on the model-throne between two lay figures.
1894—1898(Hide quotations)
b. Objective (chiefly in sense A. 4a).
model-building n.
1957 B. F. Skinner in S. Saporta & J. R. Bastian Psycholinguistics
(1961)
235/2
Model-building has a special status in the field of verbal behavior.
1989 Psychol. Today Sept. 63/3
In addition to puzzles—and for real manual challenge—kids this age enjoy realistic three-dimensional model-building projects.
1957—1989(Hide quotations)
model-maker n.
1591 M. Sutcliffe Treat. Eccl. Discipline vii. §v. 185
By studying in corners, manie melancholike modelmakers, and church-coblers may be made.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes
Disegnante, a map or modle maker.
1855 Sci. Amer. 21 July 359/3
They reflect much credit upon the skill of Mr. S. as a model maker.
1946 Nature 28 Dec. 928/2
He obtained a job as a model-maker to a firm of instrument manufacturers.
1989 C. Caufield Multiple Exposures
(1990)
xxi. 216
The model-maker has the challenging task of trying to translate complex ecological processes that are not yet fully understood into a mathematical formula.
1591—1989(Hide quotations)
model-making n.
1859 Sci. Amer. 9 July 31/2
One expert in Pattern and Model making also, may hear of an eligible situation by addressing ‘R.D.,’ No. 260 South 17th-street, Philadelphia.
1906 C. Hall Models i. 15
He merely regards model-making as a pleasant and instructive hobby.
1920 Glasgow Herald 29 Oct. 9
The Prince of Wales..accepted from him a model aeroplane with which he won first prize in the junior section of a model-making competition.
1946 Nature 14 Sept. 361/2
The two tanks and propeller-testing tunnel were in operation, and it was possible to see every stage in the process of model-making and testing.
1990 Times Educ. Suppl. 23 Nov. 25/4
It presents a head-down, brain-centred version of human learning and displays a penchant for model-making and hypothesising.
1859—1990(Hide quotations)
C2.
model agency n. chiefly Brit. an agency that supplies models (sense A. 11).
1945 Glamour Nov. 166/2
First, you have an interview with one of the leading model agencies, such as Conover or Powers.
1992 PIC Aug. 36/1
I began to work for the model agencies doing paid tests, but as the recession took hold, even these became scarce.
1945—1992(Hide quotations)
model-drawing n. drawing in perspective from solid figures; the branch or stage of art teaching which deals with this.
1843 J. B. Williams
(title)
A manual for teaching model-drawing from solid forms.
1890 C. M. Yonge More Bywords 254
In my time..there were other kinds of improvement than in model-drawing and all the rest of it.
1843—1890(Hide quotations)
model girl n. a female fashion model.
1962 John o' London's 4 Jan. 20/1
Witches who are model girls gone macabre.
1974 R. Harris Double Snare iii. 19
Her figure..must once have been willowy in the model girl fashion.
1991 J. Tanner Folly's Child 108
Unlike some couturiers Madame did not mind if her model girls did not have the same colour hair.
1962—1991(Hide quotations)
model release n. a legal contract which allows the copyright owner of a photograph, etc., to use it freely without permission from its subject.
1946 Sears Advertising Policies 171/2
Cross Reference Terms... Model Release: See Photographs, Testimonials.
1960 Misc. Rep. N.Y. 2nd Ser. 18 175
The ‘model release’ involved in the case at bar allows to ‘Avedon, advertisers, customers, successors and assigns’ ‘the unrestricted use of’ the model's ‘name, portrait or picture, for advertising purposes.’
1991 Photo Answers May 45/3
For certain kinds of uses, it's worth getting model releases for both people and building pictures.
1946—1991(Hide quotations)
model school n. an establishment at which fashion models (sense A. 11b) are trained.
1966 A. Prior Operators iv. 40
Robin..said he knew some people in modelling who could help her... He had not been able to afford the so-called Model School.
1966—1966(Hide quotations)
Model T n. an early type of mass-produced car made by the Ford Motor Company of America; (now also used as) the type of something outmoded or old-fashioned; frequently attributive.
1909 Automobile 7 Jan. 9/1
Model T of the Ford line is in the same class, in that it is all automobile and no price.
1912 V. W. Pagé Mod. Gasoline Automobile xii. 618
The Ford car is one of the most popular of moderate-priced automobiles and over 100,000 of the Model ‘T’ are now on the road.
1912 V. W. Pagé Mod. Gasoline Automobile xii. 619
(caption)
Outlining the distinctive control system of Ford Model ‘T’ automobile.
1930 L. Mumford in Archit. Rec. Jan. 20/1
One might call this the model T dilemma. Mass-production..suffers..from rigidity.
[1932 A. Huxley Brave New World ii. 27
Twenty-three years after Our Ford's first T-Model was put on the market.]
1945 Amer. Speech 20 148/1
Model T, non~com technician.
1947 Reader's Digest Jan. 119/1
Such simple demands as wages, hours and working conditions are strictly Model T.
1966 Economist 26 Mar. 1251/2
A return to the one-off, custom-built job, is playing right back into Britain's hands and away from the undeveloped nations churning out marine model-Ts.
1909—1966(Hide quotations)
model year n. N. Amer. a period of a year's duration, at the end of which new models of a vehicle replace those previously on the market.
1939 Jrnl. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 34 661
We selected a model year as the proper unit [for measuring the elasticity of automobile demand].
1956 Automotive News 15 Oct. 1/3
Arrival of the 1957 model year has failed to dampen prospects for a nearly complete sweepout of 1956 cars by Election Day.
1991 Alabama Game & Fish May 12/1
Check the HIN..to verify the boat's model year.
1939—1991(Hide quotations)
Special uses
model dwellings n. now hist. (originally in London) large buildings divided into flats and intended to supply better arrangements for sanitation and comfort than were otherwise available, at low rents.
1851
(title)
Plans and descriptions of the model dwellings in London, erected by The Society for Improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes.
1891 M. Williams Later Leaves 369
In the case of many cleared areas,..model dwellings have been erected for the accommodation of the persons displaced.
1920 J. Galsworthy Foundations ii
Poor little things, livin' in they model dwellin's. Therr's no air for 'em.
1988 Amer. Hist. Rev. 93 314
In the spirit of Lord Shaftesbury's philanthropic model dwellings movement..James Lumsden..hired architect James Wylson to design a tenement for working-class residents.
1851—1988(Hide quotations)
model home n. N. Amer. = show house n. 3b.
1921 Sun
(Baltimore)
18 May 5/3
(heading)
To show model homes at building exposition..next September.
1997 Chicago Tribune 6 Apr. xvi. 6
(advt.)
Visit our 18 walk-thru model homes priced from $109,000 to $139,000.
1921—1997(Hide quotations)
model lodging house n. now Sc. any of a number of lodging houses established c1840–5 by various philanthropists, and placed under certain regulations intended to secure the comfort and orderly conduct of the residents; later in extended use, applied to other lodging houses regardless of standard.
1847 Illustr. London News 23 Jan. 61
Model Lodging House in St. Giles's.
1892 Econ. Jrnl. 2 416
The writer describes a model lodging-house which she established in the docks district. Miss March-Phillips found that ‘better surroundings do in time incline the very roughtest to a better habit of living’.
1973 People's Jrnl.
(Inverness)
28 July 1/3
One solution, Mr Macdonald thinks, might be a ‘model’ lodging house as there was in the burgh half-a-century ago.
1847—1973(Hide quotations)
model prison n. a prison intended to be, or regarded as, a model in organization, conditions, etc.; (formerly) spec. a prison having a regime emphasizing the separate confinement and reformation of inmates (also called separate prison).
1835 1st Rep. Sel. Comm. House of Lords Gaols 71 in Parl. Papers 1835 (Commons) XI. 1
There should be one or more Central Prisons more immediately under their control. These should be situated either in the Metropolis or its immediate Vicinity, and would serve as Model Prisons for the rest of the Country.
1927 Amer. Jrnl. Internat. Law 20 66
The Peking model prison well deserves its title, since in addition to being well-lighted and clean and providing excellent food..it employs convicts in a variety of trades.
1996 Atlanta Jrnl. & Constit. 12 Jan. a11/4
It is not necessary to spend millions on model prisons.
1835—1996(Hide quotations)
model school n. a school which is intended to be exemplary in organization, teaching methods, etc.
1854 Dickens Hard Times i. iii. 15
To think of these vagabonds..attracting the young rabble from a model school.
1935 Discovery Nov. 342/1
The prime cause of the excavation was the announcement that a new model school was to be built on a field..which..covered part of the site of Camulodunum.
1986 Times Higher Educ. Suppl. 13 June 9/3
Model schools will be opened in villages to tap rural talent.
1854—1986(Hide quotations)
model village n. (a) a village providing a high standard of housing, typically built to accommodate the workforce of a large employer (now hist.) (b) a small-scale model of a village, esp. one built as a visitor attraction.
1906 W. A. Harvey Model Village & its Cottages 9
It was in 1895 that Mr. George Cadbury, the senior member of the present firm, commenced the work of building a model village.
1960
(title)
The model village, Bourton on the Water.
1980 Newsweek
(U.S)
(Nexis)
9 June 81
Elaborate graphics suggested energy-efficient improvements in aerodynamic design and tiny model villages showed Americans of the future making use of a host of renewable energy resources.
1991 J. B. Schor Overworked Amer. iv. 101
Communitarians and socialist-feminists built model villages in which women shared housework.
2000 Bath Chron.
(Electronic ed.)
14 Oct.
It's always seemed curious to me that Bourton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds has a model village. The real thing seems just like one.
1906—2000(Hide quotations)
