pattern

Synonyms

Antonyms

Pat"tern, n. Etym: [OE. patron, F. patron, a patron, also, a pattern. See Patron.] 1. Anything proposed for imitation; an archetype; an exemplar; that which is to be, or is worthy to be, copied or imitated; as, a pattern of a machine. I will be the pattern of all patience. Shak. 2. A part showing the figure or quality of the whole; a specimen; a sample; an example; an instance. He compares the pattern with the whole piece. Swift. 3. Stuff sufficient for a garment; as, a dress pattern. 4. Figure or style of decoration; design; as, wall paper of a beautiful pattern. 5. Something made after a model; a copy. Shak. The patterns of things in the heavens. Heb. ix. 23. 6. Anything cut or formed to serve as a guide to cutting or forming objects; as, a dressmaker's pattern. 7. (Founding) Defn: A full-sized model around which a mold of sand is made, to receive the melted metal. It is usually made of wood and in several parts, so as to be removed from the mold without injuring it. Pattern box, chain, or cylinder (Figure Weaving), devices, in a loom, for presenting several shuttles to the picker in the proper succession for forming the figure. -- Pattern card. (a) A set of samples on a card. (b) (Weaving) One of the perforated cards in a Jacquard apparatus. -- Pattern reader, one who arranges textile patterns. -- Pattern wheel (Horology), a count-wheel. Pat"tern, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Patterned; p. pr. & vb. n. Patterning.] 1. To make or design (anything) by, from, or after, something that serves as a pattern; to copy; to model; to imitate. Milton. [A temple] patterned from that which Adam reared in Paradise. Sir T. Herbert. 2. To serve as an example for; also, to parallel. To pattern after, to imitate; to follow.