an original pattern or model; a prototype
a perfect example or model of something
the Negro in chains, the archetype of exploited humanity — David Lodge
in Jungian psychology, an inherited idea or mode of thought derived from the collective unconscious
archetypal /-ʹtiepl/ adj
archetypical /-ʹtipikl/ adj
[via Latin from Greek archetypon, neuter of archetypos archetypal, from archein to begin, rule + typos: see type1]