ectype

English

Noun

ectype (plural ectypes)

1. An impression (in wax, clay, &c.) of a seal or medal.
   • 1697, J[ohn] Evelyn, “Of Inscriptions”, in Numismata. A Discourse of Medals, Antient and Modern. […], London: […] Benj[amin] Tooke […], →OCLC, page 196:

     Peireskius sent the Ectype of a Medal to Sir Robert Cotton, in which Britannia was with both a double and single N.

2. (architecture) An object in relievo or embossed.
3. (philosophy) A copy, reproduction; especially as contrasted with the original, archetype, or prototype.
   • 2001, Hermathena: A Trinity College Dublin Review, numbers 170-172, page 30:

     If my account is correct, both archetypes and ectypes are 'real' insofar as they are composed of ideas of sensation. But I draw a distinction that Johnson does not acknowledge, viz., a distinction between ontological and epistemic ectypes.

   • 2004, Jean-Luc Marion, translated by James K. A. Smith, The Crossing of the Visible, page 38:

     The painting traces itself from itself by suddenly appearing in these ectypes. But the ectypes only mark the final accomplishment of this sudden appearance.

   • 2008, Ryan L. Showler, Archetypal and Ectypal Ideals in Kant's Practical Philosophy‎^[1], page 51:

     It is likely that little attention has been paid to the archetype/ectype relationship in Kant scholarship in the English speaking world partly as a result of inconsistent translations of the German terms “Urbild” and “Nachbild” that make it difficult to even notice the relationship.

4. An idea or impression that corresponds to external reality.

Related terms

• ectypal

French

Noun

ectype f (plural ectypes)

1. ectype

Further reading

• “ectype”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.