Stereotype
/ˈstɛr.i.ə.taɪp/noun
A widely held, oversimplified idea or image of a person or thing.
Did you know?The word began in printing: a stereotype was a metal plate cast from a page, so the modern meaning of a rigid mental “copy” is a perfect historical metaphor.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
stereós
“solid, firm, hard”
Ancient Greek
Greek
týpos
“a blow, mark left by a strike; impression, form”
1790s
French
stéréotype
“a printing plate cast from a fixed mold”
1798
English
stereotype
“a plate for printing duplicate pages”
19th Century
English
stereotype
“something fixed and repeated in a set form”
Modern English
English
stereotype
“an oversimplified fixed idea or image”
Explore more surprising origins