What does paradigm mean?
Word: Paradigm
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Paradigm means a typical example or model of something, or a pattern of ideas that people follow when they think about a subject.
Synonyms: model, pattern, example, standard
Word origin: From a Greek word meaning 'pattern' or 'example', from a verb meaning 'to show side by side'.
How do you spell paradigm?
Syllables: par - a - digm
Tricky part: The word ends in a silent g: it sounds like 'para-dime', so students write paradime.
Watch out for: paradime, paradim
Memory tip: End it the way diaphragm ends, with a silent g just before the m.
Paradigm in a sentence
Example 1: Online classes during the lockdown were a new paradigm for many schools.
Example 2: The village's rainwater harvesting scheme became a paradigm for the whole district.
Example 3: Newton's laws were the paradigm of physics for more than two hundred years.
Fun Fact
The phrase paradigm shift became popular after the historian of science Thomas Kuhn used it in 1962 for the moments when scientists move to a completely new way of thinking.
Practise the CREST Way
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
mdgaipra
a) a statement that seems to contradict itself
b) a funny copy of a song or a piece of writing
c) a limit that controls how something is done
d) something held up as the standard way to do a thing
Show answer
d) something held up as the standard way to do a thing. The letters spell paradigm, a model or pattern; the others describe paradox, parameter and parody.
Spell Probe
Find the misspelt word in the sentence and choose its meaning:
The young doctor's clinic in the hills became a paridigm of low-cost care, and health workers from other states came to learn how it was run.
a) a place where patients go to see a doctor
b) costing very little money
c) people whose job is to look after others' health
d) an ideal case that others try to copy
Show answer
d) an ideal case that others try to copy. Paridigm should be paradigm, with an a after par; it means a model to follow.
Word Champ
Choose the correct word for the blank:
A ___ is a standard example or model of something, or the set of ideas on which a subject is built.
a) paraphrase
b) parable
c) paradigm
d) parallel
Show answer
c) paradigm. A paradigm is a model or pattern; a parable is a story with a lesson, and a paraphrase puts something in other words.
Word Tally
Score 2 marks for each misspelt word. What is the total score?
paradigm, paradox, parrallel, paramedic, parasite
a) 6
b) 2
c) 0
d) 4
Show answer
b) 2. Only parallel is misspelt (1 x 2 = 2); paradigm and the rest are correct.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. When a teacher calls Lena's essay a paradigm of clear writing, she means it is ____.
a) one that others could copy
b) full of difficult words
c) too long to read
d) written in a hurry
Show answer
a) one that others could copy
2. Which sentence uses paradigm correctly?
a) The Green Revolution became a paradigm for farming reforms in other states.
b) She tied her hair with a bright red paradigm.
c) The soup tasted very paradigm today.
d) We paradigmed the chairs neatly in rows.
Show answer
a) The Green Revolution became a paradigm for farming reforms in other states.
