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/ɪgzˈæmpəl/ Listen

noun

Example n.

1.

One or a portion taken to show the character or quality of the whole; a sample; a specimen.

2.

That which is to be followed or imitated as a model; a pattern or copy. "For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." "I gave, thou sayest, the example; I led the way."

3.

That which resembles or corresponds with something else; a precedent; a model. "Such temperate order in so fierce a cause Doth want example."

4.

That which is to be avoided; one selected for punishment and to serve as a warning; a warning. "Hang him; he'll be made an example." "Now these things were our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted."

5.

An instance serving for illustration of a rule or precept, especially a problem to be solved, or a case to be determined, as an exercise in the application of the rules of any study or branch of science; as, in trigonometry and grammar, the principles and rules are illustrated by examples.

Synonyms: Precedent; case; instance. Example, Instance. The discrimination to be made between these two words relates to cases in which we give "instances" or "examples" of things done. An instance denotes the single case then "standing" before us; if there be others like it, the word does not express this fact. On the contrary, an example is one of an entire class of like things, and should be a true representative or sample of that class. Hence, an example proves a rule or regular course of things; an instance simply points out what may be true only in the case presented. A man's life may be filled up with examples of the self-command and kindness which marked his character, and may present only a solitary instance of haste or severity. Hence, the word "example" should never be used to describe what stands singly and alone. We do, however, sometimes apply the word instance to what is really an example, because we are not thinking of the latter under this aspect, but solely as a case which "stands before us." See Precedent.

verb

Example v. t. (past & past part. exampled; pres. part. exampling) To set an example for; to give a precedent for; to exemplify; to give an instance of; to instance. (Obs.) "I may example my digression by some mighty precedent." "Burke devoted himself to this duty with a fervid assiduity that has not often been exampled, and has never been surpassed."

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Etymology of 'Example'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Example" Quotes from Famous Books

... was given, Mrs Proudie would take up the tale, and she, in her more concise manner, was not wont to quote the bishop as having at all assisted in the consideration of the subject. It was well known in Barsetshire that no married pair consorted more closely or more tenderly together; and the example of such conjugal affection among persons in the upper classes is worth mentioning, as it is believed by those below them, and too often with truth, that the sweet bliss of connubial reciprocity is not so common as it should be among the ...

— Doctor Thorne • Anthony Trollope

... credit. The northern Catholic, who is so often a pure Celt, is sometimes credited with having acquired some of the qualities of his Presbyterian neighbours of Lowland Scots extraction. But this is only on the surface, and Bernard MacAnulty was a typical example of this. No braver or more generous Irishman ever breathed, and he had a fund of humour which would have done credit to the quickest-witted Connaughtman or Munsterman that ever lived. Though the Ulster accent is generally ...

— The Life Story of an Old Rebel • John Denvir

... proceeded to read the Acta, the listeners crossed and blessed themselves; at last Duke Francis, the bishop, spake—"Did I not say well, when years ago, in Oderkrug, I prayed our father of blessed memory to burn this vile limb of Satan for a terrible example? But my good brother Philip sided against me with my father, and he was deemed the wiser. Who is ...

— Sidonia The Sorceress V2 • William Mienhold

... she asked with mild humour. "I really never asked them.—But this is just another example of his good fortune. When he has worn out every one else's patience, through his dishonest extravagance, he picks up a rich wife, who is not averse to ...

— Maurice Guest • Henry Handel Richardson

... chapel in the Tower of London, which consists of a small apsidal church with nave and aisles, vaulted throughout, and in excellent preservation. This building, though very charming, is almost destitute of ornament. A little more ornate, and still a good example of early Norman, is St. Peter's Church, Northampton (Fig. 172), the interior of which we illustrate. To these examples of early Norman we may add a large part of Rochester Cathedral, and the transepts of Winchester. The transepts of Exeter present ...

— Architecture - Classic and Early Christian • Thomas Roger Smith

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