n.1. a prototypical example of something or the original model from which something is held to derive. See also prototype. 2. in the analytic psychology of Carl Jung, any one of a set of symbols representing aspects of the psyche that derive from the accumulated experience of humankind. These inherited symbols are held in the collective unconscious and serve as a frame of reference with which individuals view the world and as one of the foundations on which the structure of personality is built. Examples are anima, animus, persona, shadow, supreme being, and hero. Also called archetypal image; primordial image. —archetypaladj.