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stereotype - 10 dictionary results

ster⋅e⋅o⋅type

  [ster-ee-uh-tahyp, steer-] noun, verb, -typed, -typ⋅ing.
Use stereotype in a Sentence
–noun
1. a process, now often replaced by more advanced methods, for making metal printing plates by taking a mold of composed type or the like in papier-mâché or other material and then taking from this mold a cast in type metal.
2. a plate made by this process.
3. a set form; convention.
4. Sociology. a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group: The cowboy and Indian are American stereotypes.
–verb (used with object)
5. to make a stereotype of.
6. to characterize or regard as a stereotype: The actor has been stereotyped as a villain.
7. to give a fixed form to.
Origin:
1790–1800; stereo- + -type

Related forms:
ster⋅e⋅o⋅typ⋅er, ster⋅e⋅o⋅typ⋅ist, noun
ster⋅e⋅o⋅typ⋅ic  [ster-ee-uh-tip-ik, steer-] , ster⋅e⋅o⋅typ⋅i⋅cal, adjective

Synonyms:
6. categorize, type, identify.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To stereotype
ster·e·o·type   (stěr'ē-ə-tīp', stîr'-)   
n.  
  1. A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.
  2. One that is regarded as embodying or conforming to a set image or type.
  3. Printing A metal printing plate cast from a matrix molded from a raised printing surface, such as type.
tr.v.   ster·e·o·typed, ster·e·o·typ·ing, ster·e·o·types
  1. To make a stereotype of.
  2. To characterize by a stereotype: "Elderly Americans are the neglected sector of the fashion industry, stereotyped by blue hair and polyester pantsuits" (American Demographics).
  3. To give a fixed, unvarying form to.
  4. To print from a stereotype.

[French stéréotype, stereotype printing : stéréo-, solid (from Greek stereo-; see stereo-) + type, printing type (from Old French, symbol, from Late Latin typus; see type).]
ster'e·o·typ'er n., ster'e·o·typ'ic (-tĭp'ĭk), ster'e·o·typ'i·cal (-ĭ-kəl) adj., ster'e·o·typ'i·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Stereotype

Ste"re*o*type\, n. [Stereo- + -type: cf. F. st['e]r['e]otype.]

1. A plate forming an exact faximile of a page of type or of an engraving, used in printing books, etc.; specifically, a plate with type-metal face, used for printing.

Note: A stereotype, or stereotypr plate, is made by setting movable type as for ordinary printing; from these a cast is taken in plaster of Paris, paper pulp, or the like, and upon this cast melted type metal is poured, which, when hardened, makes a solid page or column, from which the impression is taken as from type.

2. The art or process of making such plates, or of executing work by means of them.

Stereotype block, a block, usually of wood, to which a stereotype plate is attached while being used in printing.

Stereotype

Ste"re*o*type\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stereotyped; p. pr. & vb. n. Stereotyping.] [Cf. F. st['e]r['e]otyper.]

1. To prepare for printing in stereotype; to make the stereotype plates of; as, to stereotype the Bible.

2. Fig.: To make firm or permanent; to fix.

Powerful causes tending to stereotype and aggravate the poverty of old conditions. --Duke of Argyll (1887).
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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stereotype

A too-simple and therefore distorted image of a group, such as “Football players are stupid” or “The English are cold and unfriendly people.”


stereotype

A generalization, usually exaggerated or oversimplified and often offensive, that is used to describe or distinguish a group.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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stereotype 
1798, "method of printing from a plate," from Fr. stéréotype (adj.) "printing by means of a solid plate of type," from Gk. stereos "solid" (see sterile) + Fr. type "type." Noun meaning "a stereotype plate" is from 1817. Meaning "image perpetuated without change" is first recorded 1850, from the verb in this sense, which is from 1819. Meaning "preconceived and oversimplified notion of characteristics typical of a person or group" is recorded from 1922. Stereotypical is attested from 1949.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: 1ste·reo·type
Pronunciation: 'ster-E-&-"tIp, 'stir-
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: -typed;-typ·ing
1 : to repeat without variation <stereotyped behavior>
2 : to develop a mental stereotype about

Main Entry: 2stereotype
Function: noun
: something conforming to a fixed or general pattern; especially : an often oversimplified or biasedmental picture held to characterize the typical individual of a group —ste·reo·typ·i·cal /"ster-E-&-'tip-i-k&l/ also ste·reo·typ·ic /-ik/ adjective
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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stereotype

type of printing plate developed in the late 18th century and widely used in letterpress, newspaper, and other high-speed press runs. Stereotypes are made by locking the type columns, illustration plates, and advertising plates of a complete newspaper page in a form and molding a matrix, or mat, of papier-mache or similar material to it; the dried mat is used as a mold to cast the stereotype from hot metal. A stereotype plate is much stronger and more durable under the press run than would be the composed page of type. It is gradually being replaced, however, by photopolymer (photosensitive plastic) and lithographic plates.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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