paradigm

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
paradigm /ˈparədʌɪm/

▶noun

• 1 a typical example, pattern, or model of something.

• 2 a world view underlying the theories and methodology of a scientific subject.

• 3 Linguistics a set of items that form mutually exclusive choices in particular syntactic roles. Often contrasted with syntagm.

• 4 Grammar a table of all the inflected forms of a word.

– derivatives
paradigmatic /parədɪgˈmatɪk/ adjective,
paradigmatically adverb.

– origin C15: via late L. from Gk paradeigma, from paradeiknunai ‘show side by side’.