What does prototype mean?
Word: Prototype
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Prototype means the first working version of a new machine or product, built before many are made.
Synonyms: mock-up
How do you spell prototype?
Syllables: pro - to - type
Tricky part: The ending is type, with a y, the same word as in typewriter.
Watch out for: prototipe, prottotype, protatype
Memory tip: A prototype is the first type of a thing: proto means first, and the type at the end keeps its y.
Prototype in a sentence
Example 1: The first prototype of the drone flew for only ten seconds, so the team tried again.
Example 2: Designers made a clay prototype before building the real chair.
Example 3: The aircraft prototype took off from Bengaluru for its first test flight.
Fun Fact
Car companies often cover new prototypes in swirling black-and-white wraps so that photographers cannot make out their shape on test drives.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word prototype as used in the sentence:
The engineers tested the prototype of the electric bus on a steep hill road.
a) factory
b) model
c) driver
d) engine
Show answer
b) model. A prototype is an early model built to be tried out.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Our robotics club showed its prototype at the science fair, and the judges were amazed that its little arm could lift a full water bottel.
a) prototype
b) bottel
c) judges
d) robotics
Show answer
b) bottel. Bottle ends in le, like little, which sits just before it.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is misspelt. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. prototype 2. experiment 3. laboratory 4. invension
a) a test done to find something out
b) something new that has been made for the first time
c) a room or building for scientific work
d) the first working version of a new product
Show answer
b) something new that has been made for the first time. Invention ends in tion, not sion; prototype, experiment and laboratory are correct.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The carmaker showed a shiny ptporeyto of its new electric car at the motor show.
a) protector
b) stereotype
c) prototype
d) photocopy
Show answer
c) prototype. Stereotype needs an s and two e's, photocopy a c and an h, and protector a c.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Pick the prototype from this list.
a) an old phone kept in a museum
b) the first test model of a new phone
c) a phone bought from a shop last year
d) a picture of a phone in an advert
Show answer
b) the first test model of a new phone
2. After testing a prototype, designers usually ____.
a) change the design to fix problems
b) send it to a museum at once
c) give up on the whole project
d) start selling that very model
Show answer
a) change the design to fix problems
