Meaning

• Something fit to be imitated; an ideal, a model.

• A role model.

• Something typical or representative of a class; an example.

• A pattern after which others should be made; an archetype.

• A well known usage of a scientific theory.

• A handwritten manuscript used by a scribe to make a handwritten copy; the original copy of what gets multiply reproduced in a copy machine.

• A copy of a book or piece of writing.