Pattern \pat"tern\, n. [OE. patron, F. patron, a patron, also, a pattern.]

1. Anything proposed for imitation; an archetype; an exemplar; that which is to be, or is worthy to be, copied or imitated; as, a pattern of a machine

   I will be the pattern of all patience. --Shak

2. A part showing the figure or quality of the whole; a specimen; a sample; an example; an instance

   He compares the pattern with the whole piece --Swift

3. Stuff sufficient for a garment; as, a dress pattern
4. Figure or style of decoration; design; as, wall paper of a beautiful pattern
5. Something made after a model; a copy. --Shak

   The patterns of things in the heavens. --Heb. ix 23

6. Anything cut or formed to serve as a guide to cutting or forming objects; as, a dressmaker's pattern
7. (Founding) A full-sized model around which a mold of sand is made, to receive the melted metal. It is usually made of wood and in several parts, so as to be removed from the mold without injuring it
8. A perceptual structure; "the composition presents problems for students of musical form"; "a visual pattern must include not only objects but the spaces between them" [syn: form, shape]
9. A customary way of operation or behavior; "it is their practice to give annual raises"; "they changed their dietary pattern" [syn: practice]
10. Something regarded as a normative example; "the convention of not naming the main character"; "violence is the rule not the exception"; "his formula for impressing visitors" [syn: convention, normal, rule, formula]
11. A model considered worthy of imitation; "the American constitution has provided a pattern for many republics"
12. Something intended as a guide for making something else; "a blueprint for a house"; "a pattern for a skirt" [syn: blueprint, design]
13. The path that is prescribed for an airplane that is preparing to land at an airport; "the traffic patterns around O'Hare are very crowded"; "they stayed in the pattern until the fog lifted" [syn: traffic pattern, approach pattern]
14. A diagram showing the distribution of the pellets of a shotgun on a vertical target perpendicular to the plane of fire

Pattern \pat"tern\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. patterned; p. pr. & vb. n. patterning.]

1. To make or design (anything) by, from, or after, something that serves as a pattern; to copy; to model; to imitate --Milton

   [A temple] patterned from that which Adam reared in Paradise. --Sir T Herbert

2. To serve as an example for; also, to parallel To pattern after, to imitate; to follow
3. Plan or create according to a model or models [syn: model]
4. Form a pattern; "These sentences pattern like the ones we studied before"