Paradigm

Paradigm

Noun · /ˈpær.ə.daɪm/

Definition

(1) A typical example or pattern of something; a model or framework. (2) In philosophy of science (especially the work of Thomas Kuhn): the set of theories, assumptions, methods, and standards that define a scientific discipline at a given time; a framework within which scientific work is conducted. (3) In linguistics: a set of forms showing the inflections of a word. (4) By extension (often overused in business and popular discourse): a worldview, framework, or set of assumptions within which a community operates.

Origin

From Late Latin paradigma, from Greek paradeigma (pattern, example, model) — from para (beside, alongside) + deiknynai (to show, to display). Paradigm therefore meaning that which is shown alongside — an example shown as a model. Appearing in English from the fifteenth century initially in the grammatical and rhetorical senses, and acquiring its dominant modern philosophical sense through Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), which popularised the concept of the paradigm shift.