PARADIGM
PARADIGM [From Greek parádeigma, a pattern, an example, a basis for comparison. Stress: ‘PA-ra-dime’]. In GRAMMAR, a set of all the (especially inflected) forms of a word (write, writes, wrote, writing, written), especially when used as a model for all other words of the same type. Paradigms serve as models for word forms in LATIN and GREEK (in which key words represent the patterns of numbered groups of nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc.) and to a lesser extent for such other languages as French and Spanish (principally for verbs). Their use is limited in English, because it is not a highly inflected language. See CONJUGATION, SUFFIX.
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PARADIGM
